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The  Social  Message 
of  Our  Lord 


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Bishop  of  the  Pacific  Di^dt,  Church 

of  the  United  Brethren 

in  Christ 


Twelve  Years  a  Pa^or,  Two  Years  Superintendent 
of  Indiana  Sunday-School  Association  and  Editor  of 
the  State  Paper,  Tv/elve  Year*  General  Secretary  for 
Home  and  Foreign  Missions,  Eleven  Years  Editor  of 
The  Search   Light,   Author  of  The   Love  of   God. 


THE  OTTERBEIN  PRESS 
Dayton,  Ohio 


Copyright,   1909.  by 

United  Brethren  Publishing  House 

Dayton.  Ohio 


DEDICATION 

To    Mr.   James   Knisely,   Mr.  W.    H.    Wagner, 

Prof.    A.    J.    Douglas,    Prof.    Smith    J.    Hunt, 

Prof.  Frank  B.   Moe,  Prof.  W.  O.  Marsh,  Dr. 

P.  B.  Lee,  and  Mrs,  M.  E.  Sickafoose,  beloved 

and    helpful    above    price   in   guiding   my   young 

life  into  the  paths  of  knowledge  and  religion, 

this  volume  is  respedlfully  dedicated 

by  the  author. 


March    10,    IQOQ  227  1V»tt   SIst   Strftt 

Los  Angtlii,  California 


.<?  M 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

The  message  of  the  Christ  has  a  marvelous  adaptability  to 
the  needs  and  issues  of  every  age.  It  requires  only  a  discern- 
ing interpretation  of  the  message  and  the  age  to  bring  them 
into  vital  and  helpful  conjunction.  The  author  has  sought  in 
this  humble  volume 

1.  To  present  conjointly  the  redemptive  and  social  message 
of  Christ  the  Lord. 

2.  To  show  the  fundamental  relation  which  Christ  sustains 
to  civilization  and  a  satisfactory  social  order. 

3.  To  arouse  the  conscience  of  the  church  to  enlarged  social 
responsibility  and  leadership. 

— The  Author. 


INTRODUCTION 

This  book  is  wholesome.  Its  message  has  in  it  the  integrity 
and  authority  of  truth.  The  cure  of  doubt  is  not  more  doubt. 
It  is  useless  to  anchor  a  ship  to  a  drifting  float;  it  is  more  than 
useless  to  anchor  society  to  the  shiftings  of  an  uncertain 
scholarship,  or  a  selfish  statesmanship,  or  the  vagaries  of  a 
materialistic  socialism,  or  the  strivings  of  unsaved  men,  how- 
ever honest  and  well-intentioned  they  may  be.  "All  their 
foundations  are  out  of  line."  The  gospel  for  the  age  of  doubt 
must  be  surcharged  with  authority  and  light.  Truth  is  but- 
tressed deep  in  the  nature  of  things.  "The  foundation  of  God 
standeth  sure,  having  this  seal,  'The  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  his,'  and  'Let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ 
depart  from  iniquity.' "  Build  this  civilization  story  on  story 
until  it  kisses  the  skies,  if  you  v/ill ;  if  it  is  built  on  the  basic 
principles  of  supernatural  truth  it  will  endure  and  serve  the 
age-long  plan  of  God.  The  author  himiself  utters  this  general 
truth  with  the  tones  of  Niagara  in  his  words :  "Dismiss  doubt, 
live  on  the  positive  side  of  life  and  thou  shalt  triumph  glor- 
iously." 

Where  did  William  M.  Bell  get  the  confidence  and  the 
certitudes  which  he  has  written  into  this  book?  First  of  all, 
it  was  stored  in  the  unchangeable  message  of  the  Bible;  then, 
somewhere  in  the  years  now  past,  God  wrought  in  the  depths 
and  heights  of  his  nature  and  fashioned  him  anew  after  the 
pattern  in  the  Sacred  Word  and  gave  him  light,  then  the 
illumined  man  saw  objectively  the  unfolding  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  in  the  life  of  the  world.  The  Word,  the  experience, 
and  the  observation  conspired  to  coronate  truth  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  this  man ;  then  he  wrote  this  message. 

The  basic  proposition  of  the  book  is  that  God,  indwelling 
man,    functions  with   the   human   nature;   he  operates   in  the 


conduct  and  the  relations  of  the  one  he  indwells,  and  thus 
through  the  man  God  permeates  society  with  spiritual  wisdom 
and  vitality,  and  with  increase  of  his  righteousness.  "Know- 
ing Jesus  historically,  ethically,  and  ideally  is  inadequate." 
"Christ  proposes  to  come  into  human  life  by  essential,  affec- 
tional,  experimental  approach."  The  result  is  that  the  living 
Christian,  from  inherent  spiritual  power,  fulfills  in  his  life  and 
in  the  world  God's  ideal  as  seen  in  Jesus  Christ. 

In  a  passage  of  great  power,  I.  Cor.  2 :  9-16,  Paul  states  the 
fact  that  God  indwells  the  human  and  functions  with  the 
human  nature.  There  are  things  unknowable  to  us  through 
the  five  senses,  which  things  God  has  prepared  for  them  that 
love  him;  but  he  hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit,  for 
they  are  spiritually  discerned.  A  man  and  an  animal  cannot 
converse,  they  are  of  different  orders  of  nature;  but  a  man 
can  talk  with  a  man,  seeing  they  are  of  the  same  order.  So, 
also,  God  can  talk  witli  God,  but  how  can  a  man  talk  with 
God?  Paul's  answer  is,  "Vv^e  have  received  the  Spirit  of 
God  that  we  might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to 
us  of  God."  The  Spirit  indwells  the  soul,  unfolds  and 
vitalizes  the  spiritual  faculties,  and  thus  energized  and  illum- 
ined, we  have  fellowship  with  God  and  are  consciously  related 
to  the  spiritual  realm.  The  intellectual  vision  and  judgment 
resulting  from  the  Divine  functioning  with  the  human  intellect 
is  what  Paul  is  speaking  of  when  he  says,  "We  have  the  mind 
of  Christ."  Before  this  fundamental  truth  and  its  conquest  in 
society,  rationalism,  materialism,  occultism,  and  all  false  sci- 
ence must  ultimately  fall.  "Christ  in  us  the  hope  of  glory" 
shall  lift  the  race  at  last  to  its  ultimate  temporal  and  eternal 
citizenship.  The  evangelistic  value  oi  this  truth  is  inestimable. 
A  man,  a  cit3%  a  nation  of  people  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
bound  by  heredity,  mastered  by  sin,  may  by  the  new,  superior, 
and  creative  Fatherhood  of  God  rise  to  new  sonship  and  citi- 
zenship. The  great  business  of  this  book  is  to  put  in  words  the 
way  by  which  principles  are  actualized  in  life,  and  how  society 
is  being  set  free  by  an  emancipating  righteousness. 

The  message  of  the  book  meets  a  present-day  need.  Much 
of  it  was  recently  delivered  by  the  author  in  a  series  of 
addresses  in  San  Francisco.     Let  me  illustrate  the  fitness  and 


opportuneness  of  the  message  by  its  application  to  conditions 
in  this  city : 

The  church  here  is  comparatively  weak,  and  the  world  is 
haughty  in  its  own  strength.  The  city  is  excessively  material- 
istic. Its  admiiiistration  is  not  conducted  in  the  interest  of 
human  life,  but  in  the  interest  of  money  and  gain.  The 
amusements  are  of  a  low  order,  the  dail^v  press  is  corrupt, 
gambling  proceeds  with  shameless  exposure  to  the  public  view, 
the  temper  of  men  is  to  disregard  law,  the  conviction  of  rich 
criminals  is  almost  impossible,  the  prize  ring  affords  the  most 
constant  elements  of  news,  many  of  our  judges,  lawyers, 
bankers,  and  prominent  people  sit  on  the  front  seat  at  the 
fight  and  applaud  the  bigger  brute. 

The  trend  in  this  city,  as  in  all  cities,  is  away  from  the  home 
to  outside  attractions.  San  Francisco  lives  in  hired  houses. 
The  last  census  reported  67.227  "private"  families  in  the  city, 
of  wdiich  number  only  15.571  owned  their  own  homes.  There 
are  in  the  city  87,696  children  of  school  age,  of  w'hich  number 
only  55.2  per  cent,  are  found  registered  in  the  daily  attendance 
of  all  schools,  public  and  private.  The  story  of  the  Juvenile 
Court  is  a  sad  tale  of  dissolute  parents  and  pitiable  children. 
Divorce  flourishes  in  alarming  proportions.  Almost  eighty 
per  cent,  of  our  population  is  of  foreign-born  parents,  and  the 
proportion  of  foreigners  is  increasing. 

The  problems  of  the  city  are  intense.  The  forces  working 
for  and  against  life  are  tremendous.  The  conflict  for  right 
eousness  taxes  every  power  of  upright  citizenship.  There  are 
approximately  380.000  people  here.  Of  this  number  nearly 
100,(X>0  are  Catholics  and  30,000  more  are  found  on  the  church 
and  Sunday-school  rolls  of  the  Protestant  churches.  What 
of  the  redemption  of  the  city  where  civilized  paganism 
abounds? 

Let  us  apply  the  message  of  the  book  to  the  moral,  social, 
political,  industrial,  commercial,  and  civic  problems  and  affairs 
of  San  Francisco.  God  indwells  a  portio.n  of  this  population. 
Their  names  and  addresses  are  found  in  the  directory  of  this 
city.  They  are  real  people  and  citizens,  and  they  are  living 
centers  of  the  divine  energy.  They  perform  in  San  Francisco 
the  duties  both  of  heaven  and  of  earth.     God  dwells  in  them. 


He  functions  in  their  faculties  and  lives  through  them  into  the 
complex  whole  of  the  city's  life.  There  is  weakness  here  in 
the  religious  body,  and  there  is  tremendous  strength  after  its 
kind  in  the  people  of  the  world.  But  new  moral  life  is  gener- 
ating in  the  city  and  flowing  in  the  channels  of  the  public 
life.  Some  evils  are  going  up  to  judgment,  and  we  trust  to 
a  last  judgment. 

San  Francisco's  greatest  need  in  this  intense  and  vital  day 
is  for  a  man,  a  prophet  of  the  new  order,  to  interpret  more 
full}^  the  fundamental  truths  and  principles  of  God  into  the 
conscious  life  of  the  city.  He  must  spell  it  out  with  a  long 
patience ;  he  must  say  it  so  that  men  with  their  backs  turned 
shall  be  startled  by  its  moral  demand. 

The  man  who  can  interpret  gospel  truth  into  the  world's 
new  conditions,  experiences,  and  fellowships  is  the  evangelist 
the  multitudes  are  asking  for  to-day.  In  this  regard  Bishop 
Bell's  book  has  a  great  mission  and  a  great  field.  The  author 
is  a  prophet  of  the  new  order.  He  has  seen  the  vision  and 
felt  the  power.  He  here  tells  us  how  it  is  that  all  social  Vv^rong 
passes  under  effectual  eclipse,  and  how  all  social  righteousness 
reigns  unto  the  victory  of  life.  God,  indwelling  his  people, 
must  fail  of  his  whole  purpose  through  them,  or  he  will 
ultimately  elevate  and  energize  society  with  the  life  of  heaven. 

A  new  light  is  breaking  over  Christendom.      In  this  light 

we   are   getting   a    new    vision    of   men    and    social    relatioins, 

obligations,  and  destinies.      All  things  are  being  reappraised 

and  set  at  new  values.      Things  are  falling  in  the  scale ;  the 

humanities  are  rising  in  the  estimate.     The  constructive  factor 

of  this  new  era  is  conscience,  hence  there  is  vital  assertion  of 

practical   righteousness  in   all   affairs.      God  is  in   conscience 

asserting   that    righteousness.       He    is    laying   a   blight    upon 

selfishness  and  is  causing  sympathy  to  burst  into  flower.    "The 

Social  Message  of  Our  Lord"  has  part  in  the  illumination  of 

our  social  problems  and  our  social  progress. 

Hugh  W.  Gilchrist. 
Mount  Hermon,  California. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Christ's  Saviorship  and  Methods      -        -  -  i 

II.  Christ  and  the  Unity  of  the  Race    -        -  -  6 

III.  Christ  and  Civilization       -        -        -        -  -  11 

IV.  Christ  and  Character         -----  17 
V.  Christ  and  Culture     - 23 

VI.  Christ  and  the  Greatest  Handicap     -        -  -  3G 

VII.  Christ  and  Human  Ability         -        -        _  _  41 

VIII.  Christ  and  Human  Inspiration           -        -  -  47 

IX.  Christ  and  Social  Institutions    -        -        -  -  53 

X.  Christ  and  Social  Symptoms     -        -        -  -  59 

XI.  Christ  and   Social   Progress       -        -        -  -  64 

XII.  Christ's  Attitude  Toward  Social  Problems  -  70 

XIII.  Christ  Competent  in  Social   Problems      -  -  77 

XIV.  Christ  and  the  Oncoming  Social  Order     -  -  84 
XV.  Christ  and  Social  Democracy    -        -        -  -  89 

XVI.  Christ  and  Current  Social  Opportunity    -  -  94 

XVII.  Christ  and  Social  Service          -        -        -  -  99 

XVIII.  Christ  and  Current  Social  Propaganda     -  -  106 

XIX.  Christ's  Kingdom  the  Ultimate  Social  Order  -  112 

XX.  Christ's  Kingdom  Fundamental          -        -  -  118 

XXI.  Christ  and  American  Duty        -        -        r  -  127 

XXII.  Christ  in  Human  Experience  the  Supreme  Utility  137 

XXIII.  Christ  and  the  Trained  Church         _        _  _  144 

XXIV.  Christ  and  the  Victorious  Church     -        -  -  151 
XXV.  Christ  and  Specialized  Christianity    -        -  -  160 

XXVI.  Christ  and  Money  Getting        -        -        -  -  168 

XXVII.  Christ  and  Conduct  Reactions    -        -        -  -  176 


CHRIST'S  SAVIORSHIP  AND  METHOD. 

I. 

There  was,  and  is  a  Christ  of  history.  His  name 
has  entered  permanently  into  the  records  of  the  earth. 
He  is  known  to-day  as  an  historic  character.  He  was, 
and  is  Christ  the  Lord.  He  was  a  man,  prophetical 
and  typical.  He  was  divine,  the  Son  of  God.  He  is 
the  living,  quickening  Spirit.  He  is  the  race's  second 
head.     He  is  both  historical  and  mystical. 

Imitation  of  him  is  not  discipleship ;  discipleship 
lays  deeper  claim  on  the  human  personality.  We  must 
have  sonship  of  him  and  in  him.  Knowing  Jesus  his- 
torically, ethically,  and  ideally  is  inadequate.  In  what 
we  call  our  modern  civilization  there  are  multitudes  of 
people  who,  almost  luiconsciously,  put  forth  efforts  in 
certain  respects  to  imitate  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  to 
their  credit,  even  though  they  have  not  reached  a 
decision  that  swings  them  into  line  with  the  functions 
and  potencies  of  spiritual  sonship. 

The  Jesus  idea  may,  indeed,  crystallize  into  race 
habit  and  race  tribute.  It  may  dominate  unconsciously 
the  thinking  and  acting  of  a  people ;  so  much,  so  good. 
Admitting  all  of  this,  the  resultant  civilization  may  yet 
be  rotten  in  spots.  Defects  will  mar  what  would  other- 
wise be  a  beautiful  countenance. 

Redemption  is  deeper  than  ethical  imitation. 
Instruction  and  ethical  ideals  are  useful.     The  church 


2  The  Social  ^lessage  of  Our  Lord 

and  the '  state  may  never  discard  the  duty  of  giving 
tl)ese.  The  new  birth,  through  faith  in  Christ  as 
Redeemer  and  Savior,  is  essential.  In  this  gracious 
experience  we  recover  our  divine  sonship.  Nicodemus 
was  a  great  and,  in  many  respects,  beautiful  character, 
but  up  to  the  time  of  his  night  conversation  with, our 
Lord,  he  was  without  the  vital  citizenship. 

Christ  proposes  to  come  into  human  life  by  essential, 
affectional,  experimental  approach.  He  provides  that 
we  shall  share  his  own  inherent  life  rather  than 
exhaust  ourselves  in  the  hopeless  effort  of  mere  imita- 
tive action.  It  is  his  plan  and  method  that  we  shall 
take  on  his  character,  as  well  as  approve  his  conduct. 
It  is  a  great  thing  to  gather  admiringly  about  the  eth- 
ical ideals  of  Christ,  but  it  is  a  greater  thing  to  receive 
power  from  him,  on  account  of  which  these  ideals 
become  potent  in  our  own  character  and  dominant  in 
our  own  conduct. 

Christ  conquers  from  the  cross.  To  appearances, 
it  was  the  hour  of  his  defeat ;  but  in  that  hour  he  lib- 
erated a  moral  and  spiritual  force  that  is  revolutioniz- 
ing human  character  and  elevating  the  path  of  human 
life.  The  gospel  is  essentially  Christ  crucified,  Christ 
on  the  cross  liberated  the  spiritual  ministry  to  the 
human  constitution,  which  salvation  requires. 

This  gos])el  occasions  an  abiding  redemptive  emo- 
tionalism. An  emotion  that  proceeds  from  Heaven, 
and  does  not  exhaust  itself  in  useless  self-gratification. 
It  is  the  emotion  of  a  soul  redeemed  from  the  shackles 
of  sin  and  liberated  to  do  the  will  of  God.  In  some 
quarters  there  is  an  unusual  disposition  to  discount 
emotion    in   connection    with   tlic   life   of   the   cliurch. 


Clirist's  Saviorship  and  Method  3 

The  Bible  is  an  emotional  book  from  first  to  last.  It 
proposes  salvation  through  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  attestation  to  the 
human  consciousness.  How  can  such  a  needed,  whole- 
some, and  rational  ministry  come  into  the  conscious 
life  of  a  human  creature  without  suitable  and  valid 
emotionalism?  Ill  must  betide  the  church  when  she 
makes  it  her  business  to  repress  the  natural,  though 
controlled  emotion  which  redemption  properly  sug- 
gests and  affords.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that 
emotion  vitalizes  the  truth. 

The  perception  of  the  truth  by  the  intellect  may  be 
cold,  valueless,  and  a  morally  powerless  process.  Satan 
himself  lacks  not  in  the  mental  power  of  apprehending 
the  truth ;  but  the  truth  needs  to  be  warmed,  vitalized, 
and  welcomed  in  the  rich  affectional  nature  with  which 
God  has  endowed  humankind.  To  be  sure,  our  emo- 
tion must  be  fed  on  divine  truth  and  justified  by  strong, 
thinking.  It  can  be  sustained  only  by  clear  and  advanc- 
ing conceptions  of  the  truth.  It  must  be  expressed  in 
nrtpelling  motive  to  activity  and  service,  in  which  the 
highest  moral  qualities  obtain.  At  this  point  it  is 
possible  that  many  are  weak  and  at  fault. 

God  gives  the  emotions  attendant  upon  redemption 
m  individual  experience  as  so  much  dynamic  by  which 
we  shall  be  suitably  related  to  the  service  of  our  dis- 
cipleship.  There  must  never  die  out  of  the  heart  of 
the  individual  Christian,  or  of  the  church,  the  great, 
vital,  and  passionate  emotion  which  is  provided  and 
induced  by  the  witnessing  Spirit  in  the  human  soul. 
No  emotion  abides  that  does  not  nurture  itself  in  the 
highest  service.     It  passes  except  it  be  employed  in 


4  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

practical  living.  If  this  requirement  be  not  observed, 
it  burns  the  heart  to  a  cinder  and  leaves  the  individual 
charred  and  powerless  for  moral  effort. 

It  is  the  method  of  Christ  to  reach  and  make  con- 
quest of  the  race  through  a  church  that  is  suffused  and 
permeated  with  missionary  illumination  and  passion. 
He  can  operate  only  through  a  church  that  touches 
men  with  the  touch  of  her  Lord.  He  moves  forward 
to  save  through  a  church  that  is  saved  to  serve.  The 
missionary  outlook  of  modern  Christendom  is  one  of 
her  most  hopeful  features.  A  growing  interest  in  the 
world-wide  conquest  of  Christianity,  which  shall  put 
its  blessed  and  holy  evangel  of  the  better  life  on  the 
heart  of  a  darkened  race,  is  one  of  the  sublime  spirit- 
ual miracles  of  our  age. 

The  race  is  awaiting  our  Lord's  method  of  loving 
and  saving  conquest.  He  who  listens  will  hear  the 
subconscious  moan  of  a  starving  world.  Our  civiliza- 
tion is  luxurious,  providing  numberless  methods  of 
gratification  to  the  human  senses  and  desires ;  but  all 
that  the  old  world  affords  leaves  yet  an  aching  void, 
for  man  is  greater  than  the  material  environment  in 
which  he  lives.  He  is  born  of  the  upland,  and  craves 
the  higher  and  the  abiding  joys. 

Moral  and  spiritual  degeneracy  puts  a  blight  over 
the  most  abounding  prosperity.  Character  and  moral 
quality  condition  all  satisfactory  human  life.  Declin- 
ing morals  have  always  mantled  the  world  in  night; 
it  must  ever  be  so.  Neglect  of  righteousness  may  be 
accompanied  by  an  unnatural  glow  in  the  face  of 
civiHzation,  but  constitutional  health  is  the  abiding 
and  requisite  need.     Potash  and  nitrogen  forbid  bar- 


Christ's  Saviorship  and  Method  5 

renness  of  soil.  God  is  the  potash  and  nitrogen  of  the 
human  heart,  and  he  alone  can  save  the  race  from 
retrogression.  God  in  experience — and  we  are  guar- 
anteed the  glorious  functions  of  an  elevating  civiliza- 
tion. He  is  the  one  unfailing  resource.  Here  only 
may  we  find  nourishing  and  healing  for  emaciated  life 
and  weary  organization. 

God  exists  for  the  heart  and  the  affections  rather 
than  for  the  intellect ;  hence,  the  demand  for  deep  and 
legitimate  feeling,  without  which  all  Christian  effort  is 
non-efifective.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  merely  intel- 
lectual preaching  can  never  be  satisfactory.  Our 
nature  is  such  that  we  crave  the  indefinable  quality 
which  we  call  "unction" — the  atmosphere  of  the  tender 
and  suffused  heart. 

The  human  reason  is  of  too  small  a  caliber  to  com- 
prehend God.  Our  intellectual  limitation  here  is  as 
old  as  the  race,  and  will  not  be  altered  in  the  present 
order.  AMiile,  intellectually  speaking,  the  idea  of  God 
is  great  and  ennobling  as  an  idea,  yet  human  nature  is 
helpless  until  the  heart  has  swung  to  its  home  in  him ; 
until,  by  the  childlike  faith,  we  are  homed  in  the  bosom 
of  God. 

Our  ability  to  know  God  is  affectional  rather  than 
intellectual.  ''He  that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  know- 
eth  God."  So,  the  knowledge  of  God  is  a  heart 
knowledge.  In  answer  to  the  heart's  clamorous  faith 
and  its  uplifted  prayer,  Christ  renews  the  soul,  and 
begins,  in  patient  and  conquering  power,  the  upbuild- 
ing of  the  character  into  his  own  likeness.  Let  him 
begin  and  carry  forward  his  conquest  in  us  now. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  UNITY  OF  THE  RACE. 

XL 

1.  The  Unity  Affirmed.  It  is  clearly  the  message 
of  the  Scriptures,  confirmed  by  the  most  judicious 
investigation  of  man,  that.  God  made  man  in  his  own 
image.  In  Adam  and  Eve  the  race  had  federal 
headship.  It  is  verily  true  that  Eve  is  the  mother 
of  us  all.  So  mankind  begins  with  a  twofold  hered- 
ity— the  one  is  from  God,  and  the  other  from  the 
federal  head.  God's  fatherhood  is  to  the  race. 
Whatever  we  say  about  the  influence  and  power  of 
human  heredity,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  we 
have  also  a  Divine  heredity.  This  is  true  of  all 
the  sons  of  men  without  regard  to  racial  distinctions 
or  political  classifications. 

2.  Significance  of  the  Fact.  The  message  of  this 
fact  is  first  to  be  heard  in  the  imposition  upon  the 
most  enlightened  portions  of  the  world  of  the 
burden  of  totality.  The  race  is  a  complete  unit ;  it 
is  a  living  organism,  a  real  body.  It  is  not  a  ques- 
tion of  what  is  to  be  done  for  the  favored  and 
wealthy  portions  of  mankind  ;  we  must  consider  the 
sum  total  of  human  need  and  human  comfort. 
This  responsibility  for  the  sum  total  is  pressing 
upon  the  heart  of  the  church  and  our  civilization 
with  new  force  and  added  significance.      In  all  care- 


Clirist  and  the  Unity  of  the  Race  7 

ful  and  S3-mpathetic  thinking  the  great  word  is 
"man."  Naturally,  we  have  magnified  nationality, 
personal  attraction,  social  position,  commercial 
leadership.  In  the  divine  scheme  and  estimate  these 
lines  of  demarkation  are  wholly  obliterated. 

The  thought  of  the  unity  of  the  race  is  a  mighty 
intellectual  stimulant.  When  pondered  well  it 
arouses  to  the  full  our  powers  of  thought,  reflection, 
and  invention.  It  compels  to  resourcefulness  and 
legitimate  uses  of  power.  As  a  fact,  it  places  an 
inspired  prophecy  in  the  center  of  our  tliinking  and 
outlook. 

The  unity  of  the  race  creates  the  task  of  universal 
reconciliation  and  brotherhood.  Nothing  can  be 
more  shortsighted  on  the  part  of  diplomats  and  leg- 
islators than  legal  enactments  which  offend  the 
spirit  of  a  growing  world  fraternity  and  federation. 
That  man  is  farseeing  who  keeps  his  eye  upon  the 
fact  that  the  inevitable  end  is  toward  race-wide  rela- 
tionship that  shall  compass  all  mankind  in  the  bonds 
of  affection  and  kindly  interest.  He  is  a  foe  to 
civilization  who,  by  any  act  or  thought,  proposes 
to  disturb  this  growing  equilibrium  of  the  human 
heart  and  interest. 

This  fact  of  race  unity  throv.-s  on  the  universal 
horizon  the  enterprise  of  world  betterment.  We 
can  no  longer  expend  our  energies  upon  what  is 
merely  local  and  provincial ;  we  must  hold  in  just 
esteem  our  world-wide  relations  and  look  forward 
to  the  hour  when  the  highest  good  of  the  whole  is 
to    be    the    dominant    consideration.        Statecraft, 


8  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

diplomacy,  and  religion  must  all  unite  in  this  new 
evangel  of  brotherhood  and  love. 

3.  Christ  and  the  Fact.  Christ  has  been  fittingly 
called  ''the  Son  of  man."  He  is  the  brother  of  all 
men ;  he  is  the  "second  Adam."  Much  was  lost  in  the 
first  Adam ;  it  is  all  recovered,  and  more,  in  Christ, 
the  new  federal  head  of  the  race.  He  makes  all  men 
one.  He  is  the  light  of  the  world.  His  rays  are  fall- 
ing with  healing  power  on  the  irritated  and  inflamed 
passions  of  men.  They  are  discerning  the  spirit  of 
an  ever-growing  brotherhood.  The  experience  of 
Christ  is  instantly  a  bond  of  unity.  Wherever  he  is 
reincarnated  in  the  affection  and  life  of  man  the 
anthem  of  "Peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men"  is 
resung,  because  repeated  in  the  soul's  experience. 

Christ  is  the  Savior  of  the  world.  How  this  termin- 
ology, "Savior"  and  "world,"  compels,  even  for  its 
voicing,  a  broad  and  unstinted  vocalization.  Here  are 
terms  that  override  geographical  boundaries  and  polit- 
ical divisions.  It  is  more  and  more  apparent  that 
Christology  is  the  propaganda  for  the  hour.  Concen- 
tration and  intensity  at  this  point  insure  religious  and 
political  efficiency.  When  the  whole  personality  crys- 
tallizes vitality  in  the  sentiment,  "For  me  to  live  is 
Christ,"  we  have  a  social  unit  that  is  a  prophecy  of 
good,  and  only  good.  There  is  a  glorious  efficiency  in 
Christ's  metaphysical  sonship  in  the  Godhead ;  in  his 
atoning  sacrifice  on  the  cross ;  in  his  resurrection  and 
atonement ;  in  the  descent  and  continued  ministry  of 
his  Holy  Spirit. 

The  incarnation  extended  and  consummated  itself 
in  the  life  and  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ.     He  became 


Christ  and  the  Unity  of  the  Race  9 

the  wisdom  of  God  and  power  of  God  unto  human 
salvation.  To-day  his  Saviorship  for  the  world  is  the 
greatest  social  dynamic.  Christ  is  risen !  Christ  is 
reigning!  Christ  is  alive,  and  governing  forevermore. 
Therefore,  preaching  him  is  wisdom ;  therefore,  fidelity 
to  him  is  the  most  splendid  patriotism.  Christ  is  risen, 
and  faith  in  him  brings  new  life  power.  Christ  is 
risen,  and  all  radiance,  love,  and  triumphant  testimony 
are  warranted  in  the  fact.  Christ  is  risen,  and  the  suc- 
cess of  redemption  is  assured.  Christ  is  risen,  and  our 
hope  is  nourished  and  sustained.  Christ  is  risen,  and 
the  whole  race  may  be  saved.  Christ  is  risen,  and  the 
whole  race  must  be  called. 

The  most  glorious  evangel  of  all  the  ages  is  the 
message  of  the  cross  and  the  risen  life.  There  is  now 
open  to  all  men  everywhere  a  perfect  son  ship  toward 
God,  and  a  perfect  brotherhood  toward  men.  This  is 
the  glowing,  heated,  vital  gospel  of  the  risen  Lord. 

We  must  gather  about  the  moral  message  of  this 
Savior  of  mankind.  His  lordship  means  the  recon- 
struction, in  many  respects,  of  our  social  ideas.  His 
domain  involves  the  correction  of  all  false  and  malig- 
nant individualism.  It  guarantees  a  new  sense  of 
social  responsibility.  We  shall  all  be  compelled  to  ask 
the  question,  as  to  what  are  the  rights  and  needs  of  all 
men  in  all  stages  of  development  and  under  all  sorts 
of  political  and  moral  control.  We  shall  have  to  con- 
secrate all  resources  to  the  noblest  and  highest  use. 
Nothing  short  of  this  will  satisfy  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  spirit  of  the  age.  ]\Iore  and  more  the  crest  of  the 
race's  ambition  and  life  is  rising  in  a  holy  purpose  to 


10  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

live  unto  him.  To  live  unto  him  is  to  live  in  every 
good  sense  unto  our  fellow-men. 

To  this  view  of  the  unity  of  the  race,  with  its  attend- 
ant duties  and  obligations,  there  are  some  natural 
resistances.  These  grow  out  of  our  prejudices,  our 
ignorance,  and  our  lack  of  high  moral  and  spiritual 
instinct.  Exalted  personal  and  spiritual  quality  is  a 
universal  need.  We  who  live  in  such  easy  access  to  all 
that  is  highest  and  best  under  the  kindly  nurture  of 
Jesus  Christ  must  more  and  more  throw  ourselves  into 
the  service  which  the  unity  of  the  race  involves. 

There  are  not  only  personal  hindrances  to  the  vital 
recognition  of  the  unity  of  the  race,  but  there  are 
certain  institutional  hindrances.  These  must  be  noted 
and  corrected.  Any  institution  which  fails  to  be  keenly 
alive  to  the  fact  under  discussion  will  run  an  abbrevi- 
ated race,  and  pass  under  deserved  eclipse.  Men  and 
institutions  must  pass  under  the  overwhelming  call  and 
requisition  for  service  in  world-wide  betterment.  We 
must  accept,  in  theory  and  in  practice,  with  all  that  it 
means  and  involves,  the  unitv  of  the  race. 


CHRIST   AXD  CIVILIZATION. 
III. 

Slowly  and  painfully  the  race  has  made  its  way 
from  primitive  conditions  to  what  we  now  call  our 
advanced  civilization.  Each  age,  as  the  world  ])ro- 
gressed,  has  had  its  own  definition  for  this  term, 
''civilization."  In  actual  history  it  has  been  a  con- 
tinuous process,  a  growing  fabric  of  law  and  order ; 
this  latter,  however,  being  the  result  of  many  genera- 
tions of  development.  Civilization  has,  in  fact,  been 
the  outgrowth  of  experience  and  necessity.  We  have 
reason  to  suppose  that,  originally,  individual  might 
was  all-determining;  within  the  radius  of  that  power 
whatever  was  done  went  unchallenged.  Repeated 
experiences  with  human  personality  and  conduct  grad- 
ually revealed  the  necessity  of  rules  and  customs  in 
the  creation  of  a  social  order.  There  came  a  recog- 
nized relation  between  individual  character  and  cer- 
tain standards  of  refinement  and  conduct.  Individual 
character  aggregated,  combined,  and  coordinated  has 
brought  the  race,  by  slow  processes,  to  present  attain- 
ments. 

Facing  to  the  future,  civilization  is  ever  building  a 
higher  law  of  life  and  individual  control.  With  polit- 
ical organization  into  nations  and  empires,  it  has  set 
about  creating  laws  to  be  administered  by  constituted 
authority,  which  we  call  "government."     An  accepted 


12  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

principle  is,  that  government  exists  by  consent  of  the 
governed.  More  largely  than  ever  before  this  prin- 
ciple holds  in  the  affairs  of  mankind.  While  it  is  not 
universal,  and  in  portions  of  the  earth  stronger  gov- 
ernments hold  control  over  the  more  imperfectly 
developed  races,  yet  the  progress  toward  government 
by  consent  is  marked  and  gratifying.  This  principle 
may  be  said  to  be  ideal,  and  ideals  are  not  always 
realized  in  haste  or  brevity  of  time. 

In  the  evolution  of  the  race  there  came  a  time  when 
public  opinion,  through  orderly  methods,  expressed 
itself  in  suitable  legislation.  Legislation  being  mean- 
ingless, unless  backed  up  by  suitable  authority  and 
penalty,  the  last  named  was,  by  due  process,  attached 
to  certain  lines  of  conduct.  Li fraction  of  the  law 
must  be  punished  if  the  dignity  of  the  law  be  upheld. 
Beyond  the  matter  of  mere  authority,  however,  civili- 
zation has  pursued  a  constant  quest  for  the  useful  arts 
and  the  highest  forms  of  development.  Law  and  lib- 
erty have  been  gradually  conjoined.  The  law  has 
outlined  the  boundaries  of  freedom;  these  boun- 
daries, however,  are  welcomed  by  the  law  abiding. 
Progress  has  come  in  the  possession  of  a  settled  system 
of  law  and  its  administration.  To  this  power  and 
authority  all  the  complex  interests  of  mankind  have 
been  referred  for  adjustment  in  cases  of  dispute  and 
contention. 

The  race  is  organized  into  great  political  and  civil 
communities.  The  moral  standards  of  mankind,  as 
commonly  accepted,  are  advancing.  The  relation  of 
the  standards  set  by  the  Almighty  over  the  race  to 
universal    well-being   are   slowly    winning   coronation. 


Christ  and  Civilization  13 

These  have  always  been  the  same,  but  their  applica- 
tion and  interpretation  are  a  process  of  growth. 

Civilization  may  be  a  veneer,  imposed  or  enforced 
by  law  and  military  authority.  Such  outward  enforce- 
ment in  certain  monarchial  governments  exists,  and 
it  is  not  the  highest  type  of  administrative  influence 
and  power.  A  routine  of  life  prescribed  by  authority, 
supported  by  suitable  and  voluntary  intelligence,  means 
an  obedience  of  growing  exhilaration.  This  obedience 
to  authority  must  be  more  than  a  surface  character- 
istic. 

Civilization  is  like  the  ocean,  receiving  and  redis- 
tributing the  streams  of  national  and  world  life. 
Religion  has  always  been  the  mainspring  of  civiliza- 
tion.    It  could  not  be  otherwise. 

RELATION   TO   CHRISTIANITY. 

With  the  most  virile  and  dominant  nations  Chris- 
tianity has  become  the  national  ideal.  This  is  true 
more  largely  than  one  may  usually  be  aware.  A  per- 
centage of  population,  sometimes  large,  may  withhold 
formal  identification  with  Christ  and  his  standards  of 
life  and  action ;  nevertheless,  it  may  be  true  that,  in 
the  large  and  final  sense,  the  Christian  ideal  is  to  the 
fore. 

Civilization  w^ould  be  a  failure  without  Christ.  He 
is  its  heart,  its  nurturing  life.  It  follows  that  the 
religious  responsibility  in  civilization  is  always  a  large 
and  serious  one.  Whenever,  therefore,  there  is  a 
forced  or  unnatural  eflfort  to  disassociate,  sympathet- 
ically, church  and  state,  the  progress  of  the  race  is 
hindered.     In  America,  we  all  believe  that  we  have 


14  The  Social  jMessage  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


done  well  to  make  a  clear  line  oi  demarkation  between 
the  state  and  an}'  formal  rite  or  expression  of  special- 
ized religion.  IJut  this  line  of  cleavage,  however, 
should  never  mean  the  lack  of  sympath}-  and  common 
cause  between  the  state  and  the  church.  God  ordained 
in  the  beginning  that  the  minister  of  religion  and  the 
minister  of  the  state  should  be  amenable  to  common 
and  revered  laws  of  righteousness ;  that  their  admin- 
istration should  have  constant  reference  to  harmony 
and  unity.  Unhappy,  therefore,  must  our  civilization 
be  when  we  shall  permit  any  estrangement  or  lack 
of  sympathy  between  these  two  correlatives  of  our 
advancement. 

The  church  is  even  more  responsible  than  the  state. 
The  church  is  the  embodiment  of  the  divine  dynamic ; 
the  state,  in  comparison,  a  diminutive  mechanism. 
The  church  is  responsible  for  the  duties  and  definitions 
of  civilization.  Hence  the  imperative  need  that  the 
church  shall  be  alert,  progressive,  judicious,  and  sym- 
pathetic for  the  general  good.  She  is  to  afford  ideals 
of  individual  life,  to  map  out  policies  for  governmental 
activity,  and  lead  with  a  growing  efficiency  toward 
every  good  and  desirable  consummation. 

It  may  be  true  that  in  certain  respects  and  certain 
ages  the  church  has  been  too  hospitable  toward  small 
ideas.  She  may  not  at  all  times  have  held  steadilv 
to  her  God-given  function  of  capable,  though  unob- 
trusive leadership  in  national  ideals  and  policies.  The 
church  is  made  up  of  aggregated  human  personalities, 
and  is  disadvantaged  by  the  sum  total  of  their  weak- 
nesses and  mistakes.  As  much  may  be  said  of  the 
state.     Our  plea  is  for  less  isolation  and  separateness. 


Christ  and  Civilization  15 

Not  for  a  formal  union,  but  for  a  sympathetic  union ; 
for  cordiality,  for  confidence ;  for  mutual  frankness, 
forbearance,  and  persuasion.  God  hath  joined  together 
the  two ;  let  not  man  allow  their  being  apart. 

If  the  church  has  been  given  to  little  comforts  and 
sacred  day  indulgences,  she,  nevertheless,  has  held  the 
conserving  germ  of  growth  and  progress.  When  she 
has  grown  tardy  overmuch,  and  failed  to  respond  to 
her  providential  function  and  appointment,  God  has 
wrought  his  will  outside  of  her  boundaries.  This  is 
the  age  when  she  is  able  to  be  prompt,  sensitive,  and 
statesmanlike  in  her  relations  to  current  need.  The 
church  is  called  upon  to  give,  with  all  gladness,  hos- 
pitable hearing  to  the  cry  of  the  needy  and  oppressed. 
She  must  not  be  despoiled  of  a  tender  heart  by  a 
pedantic  criticism.  It  is,  indeed,  the  vocation  of  the 
church  to  seize  the  world  ;  to  seize  it  by  the  right  of 
love,  persuasion,  and  tenderness ;  to  arrest  its  attention 
and  evil  bent ;  to  fight  its  enemies  and  to  shut  up  its 
hells. 

Civilization  sometimes  forgets  that  its  original  obli- 
gation is  to  Christ  and  his  religion  :  forgets  where  it 
first  lighted  its  torch.  Civilization  is  busy  with  its 
elaborate  distribution  of  offices  and  patronage.  It 
needs  to  step  aside  awhile  for  the  more  profound  mes- 
sage and  obligation  of  brotherhood  and  genuineness. 
It  must  renew  its  care  against  the  contagions  of  cor- 
ruption. 

Civilization  without  Christianity  is  languid,  self- 
complacent,  and  self -destroying.  Christ  recalls  us 
from  our  lethargy;  disturbs  our  self-complacency  by 
stronger  ideals  of  service  and   devotion.     He  arrests 


16  The  Social  Messasre  of  Our  Lord 


t>' 


the  elements  that  lead  to  our  self-destruction.  With- 
out Christianity,  civilization  exhausts  itself  upon  itself 
and  reverts  to  barbarism.  This  statement  has  histor- 
ical vindication.  Civilization  coarsens  and  brutalizes 
without  the  vital  inward  refinements  and  inspirations. 
It  is  empty  and  meaningless,  save  as  used  by  the  Chris- 
tian evangel.  It  lacks  projectile  and  strength,  save  as 
mastered  and  inspired  by  Christianity.  It  must  be 
undergirded  by  regenerated  life.  Irreligious  civiliza- 
tion is  a  menace;  civilization  apart  from  the  vitaliza- 
tions  of  religion  is  helpless  to  save  the  world  from  sin. 
God  only  can  deal  adequately  with  this  last-named 
element  of  human  peril  and  degeneracy.  He  has  dealt 
with  the  problem  of  evil  through  Christ  the  Lord  and 
Savior  of  men.  Christianity  prompts  the  slow  and 
measured  processes  of  evolution ;  at  times  it  compels 
the  more  radical,  and  yet  effective  method  of  revolu- 
tion. The  two  have  ever  been  combined  in  the  histor- 
ical development  of  mankind.  Christianity,  by  its 
inherent  power  and  nature,  is  the  stay  and  staff*  of  an 
ever-advancing  social  order. 


CHRIST  AND  CHARACTER. 
IV. 

God's  objective  in  his  dealing  with  the  race  is 
character;  character  molded  after  the  Model  Alan. 
The  attaining  of  this  objective  is  a  call  from  God 
to  man  for  his  cooperation  and  abiding  interest. 

Let  us  consider  the  physical  basis.  If  it  be  said  that 
this  is  the  sphere  of  the  medical  practitioner  rather 
than  the  clergyman,  our  answer  is  that  it  is  clearly  the 
domain  of  the  clergy  to  cooperate  with  the  doctor 
in  inculcating  a  few  requisites  of  the  body  for  the 
vigor  of  character  to  which  all  may  well  aspire. 
There  is,  then,  a  demand  for  a  sound  body.  We 
live  in  bodies  ;  they  are  the  vehicle  and  instrument 
of  the  soiil ;  through  the  body  we  are  related  to  the 
present  environment.  The  success  of  life  must,  in 
a  large  sense,  depend  upon  this  relationship  being 
effective.  It  is,  therefore,  a  worthy  ambition  that 
one  should  seek  a  perfect  body  as  the  embodiment 
of  the  perfect  soul. 

Another  phase  of  the  physical  basis  of  the  vigor- 
ous character  is  good  blood.  Our  minds  make  use 
of  the  brain.  The  brain  must  have  flowing  through 
it  pure  blood.  The  process  for  this  vital  element 
moves  on  with  suitable  food  in  the  stomach,  a 
perfect  assimilation,  with  proper  oxygenation  through 
the    lungs ;    hence,    the    question    of    proper    dietary. 


18  The  Social  iNlessage  of  Our  Lord 

breathing,  and  ventilation  enters  into  the  problem  of 
efficient  human  life.  The  relation  which  all  this  sus- 
tains to  over-eating,  to  the  eating  of  improper  food, 
and  to  the  use  of  intoxicants,  is  self-evident.  God 
made  the  stomach  for  an  exalted  function,  and  happy 
the  man  or  woman  who  recognizes  this  function  and 
lives  accordingly. 

Abstemiousness  is  anoither  factor  in  the  physical 
basis  of  character.  Moderation  and  control  in  all 
things — this  law  is  as  old  as  Sinai.  Yes,  it  is  as 
old  as  the  race.  It  has  never  been  abrogated,  and 
it  never  "will  be.  Obedience  enriches  one's  life  wnth 
infinite  blessing  and  gracious  power. 

Occasional  fasting  may  fitly  be  considered  as  not 
only  having  original  religious  significance,  but  as 
having  great  value  in  one's  care  of  the  body.  These 
requisites  of  effective  character  are  Avorthy  of  our 
study,  and  no  religious  curriculum  is  complete  that 
does  not  take  them  up. 

Our  Lord  has  indicated  certain  damaging  weak- 
nesses which  forbid  development  of  strong  char- 
acter : 

Separation  from  God.  The  light  for  the  eye,  the  air 
for  the  lungs,  the  blood  for  the  body,  and  God  for  the 
soul  and  character. 

Changeableness  is  indicated  in  the  Scriptures  as 
calamitous  to  good  character.  A  correct  attitude 
as  to  one's  moral  choices  and  religious  experiences 
must  not  only  be  taken,  but  held  with  grim  deter- 
mination. Who  of  us  but  has  been  weakened  by 
this   lack  of  high  quality? 


Christ  and  Character  19 

Again,  character  is  improverished  by  aimlessness. 
Life  needs  to  gather  about  definite  aim.  Aimless 
people  are  the  gad-aboiits  of  society.  They  impov- 
erish themselves  and  impoverish  others. 

A  divided  affection  is  a  deadly  foe  to  that  vigor 
of  character  for  vv^hich  Christ  stands  and  to  which 
he  invites.  Life  needs  to  be  a  unit.  It  is  so  often 
fractional — goodness  in  streaks,  purified  love  in  alter- 
nating currents  and  variable  quantities,  goodness  as 
the  morning  cloud  and  the  passing  dew. 

A  feeble  tenacity  tow^ard  moral  truth  and  Christ- 
like ideals  makes  strong  character  impossible.  Our 
Lord  illustrates  this  in  the  parable  where  he  tells 
us  of  good  seed  caught  away.  The  soil  might  have 
produced  bountifully ;  the  seed  was  vital  and  well 
placed,  but  it  was  caught  away,  and  the  process  of 
germinal  life  made  impossible. 

Superficiality  is  another  foe  to  strong  character. 
The  call  to  genuineness  is  the  call  of  the  Christ  to 
all  generations.  No  strong  character  can  be  built 
up  that  does  not  make  its  base  line  in  this  require- 
ment. It  is  easier  to  act  a  part ;  it  requires  a 
struggle  to  be  as  good  as  we  know.  Failure  here, 
however,  is  fatal,  and  touching  this  problem  of  gen- 
uineness we  must  ever  be  on  the  alert. 

Many  are  brought  to  bewilderment  by  rival 
claimants  for  affection,  time,  talent,  and  earthly 
possessions.  No  life  can  be  builded  into  strength 
and  power  that  does  not  settle  this  rivalry  by  mak- 
ing the  claims  of  the  kingdom  of  God  first,  forever 
and  forever,  and  through  and  through.      Rivalry  in 


20  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

the  human  heart  forbids  its  unity,  its  power,  and  its 
peace.  "Thou  shall  have  no  other  gods  beside  me." 
When  this  enthronement  of  the  Divine  Lord  in 
human  life  is  thoroughly  made,  the  vital  processes 
of  our  upbuilding  are  under  way. 

Doublemindedness  is  another  foe  to  vigor  and 
character;  the  two-souled  man  is  unstable  in  all  his 
ways.  He  has  a  mind  to  do  evil,  and  a  mind  to  do 
well.  He  swings  like  a  pendulum  between  the  two ; 
he  makes  a  mockery  of  life  and  of  his  own  powers. 
He  goes  to  the  bottom  at  last,  like  a  dismantled  and 
abandoned  craft  at  sea. 

Periodical  or  chronic  doubt  is  an  element  of 
weakness.  Doubt  is  negation  ;  faith  is  affirmation. 
Doubt  is  destructive ;  faith  is  constructive.  Doubt 
is  depressing;  faith  is  inspiring.  Doubt  is  paralyz- 
ing; faith  is  quickening.  Dismiss  doubt.  Live  on 
the  positive  side  of  life,  and  thou  shalt  triumph 
gloriously. 

Inward  tendencies  to  evil  are  immediately  notice- 
able in  the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  experience. 
Those  who  are  not  Christians  also  note  this  inward 
tendency.  It  must  be  corrected  ;  it  must  be  stayed  ; 
yea,  it  must  be  destroyed.  Christ  announces  that 
he  came  into  the  world  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil.  It  is  the  work  of  the  devil  to  maintain  this 
tendency  to  evil  within  the  human  heart.  Christ's 
proposal  is  for  eradication,  cleansing,  and  substitu- 
tion of  the  higher  and  the  more  potent  life  which 
is  in  him. 


Christ  and  Character  21 

An  abuse  of  the  divine  forbearance  forbids  strength 
of  character.  God  is  patient  and  delays  judgment. 
He  is  not  wilHng  that  any  should  perish,  but  rather 
that  all  should  turn  to  him  and  live.  Years  are  added 
that  life  may  have  the  added  opportunity  to  do  well, 
but  who  cannot  see  that  an  abuse  of  this  forbearance 
is  a  most  fruitful  cause  of  weak  and  non-efifective 
character?  Every  man  should  bring  himself  delib- 
erately to  an  immediate  surrender  to  the  claims  of  the 
Christian  life,  so  that  divine  forbearance  is  not  put  to 
the  test.  This  attitude  invites  and  secures  the  nourish- 
ing presence  of  God,  until  no  one  may  predict  the  rich 
and  bountiful  influence  that  shall  flow  therefrom. 

Heart  hardening  is  a  process  to  which  human 
nature  gives  itself  under  a  strange  delusion.  A 
moment's  serious  thought  must  lead  one  to  feel  that 
the  kindly  ministries  coming  to  our  hearts  for  recall 
to  obedience  and  righteous  living,  are  to  be  imme- 
diately recognized  and  encouraged.  The  process 
of  hardening  one's  heart  against  the  appeals  of 
goodness  is  a  foe  of  such  subtlety,  and  exerts,  withal,  - 
such  a  paral3^zing  influence  on  the  character  that  one 
needs  to  be  keenly  on  the  alert  against  this  seduction. 

Protracted  religious  conviction  is  another  occa- 
sion of  many  a  downfall.  When  convictions  for 
religious  living  and  experience  come  to  one  they 
should  be  met  with  hospitable  treatment  and  im- 
mediate obedience.  The  writer  has  in  mind  a  man 
who,  for  thirty  or  forty  years  has  struggled  with 
conviction  as  to  the  religious  life,  and,  so  far  as  one 
can    see,   all   to   no    avail,    except   his   own    misery. 


22  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

Long  ago,  if  he  had  brought  the  matter  to  an  issue, 
squared  himself  to  it  like  a  man,  he  would  have 
been  living  in  the  freedom  of  God's  sunshine  and  in 
the  pow^er  of  a  divine  sonship.  He  has  had  no 
moral  rig'ht  to  this  long  and  costly  delay.  Gradu- 
ally, his  ability  for  response  to  conviction  has  weak- 
ened, and  he  is  more  adrift  now  than  ever  before. 
Such  a  result  is  inevitable.  It  comes  by  fixed  and 
fatal  logic.  Our  very  earliest  religious  convictions 
should  be  respected,  welcomed,  and  obeyed. 

Narrow  vision  and  sympathy  is  the  opponent  of 
strong  character.  This  is  the  age  of  vision.  This 
is  the  hour  for  sympathy.  We  limit  either  only  at 
our  peril. 

Many  lives  are  weakened  because  they  worship 
at  many  altars.  They  are  the  devotees  of  numer- 
ous deities.  One  may,  indeed,  deify  his  own  appe- 
tites and  passions. 

Finally,  it  needs  to  be  said  that  a  failure  to  w^holly 
follow  the  Lord,  after  his  gracious  life  has  been 
planted  in  the  heart,  can  but  make  life  weak  peren- 
nially. This  matter  of  unquestioned  and  entire  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  which  regenerated  life  sets  up  in  the 
heart  is  all-important.  Fidelity  here  means  growing 
power,  joy,  and  sweetness  in  the  whole  life. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  vigor  requisites :  First  and 
foremost  comes  the  question  of  inward  divine  en- 
thronement. Our  heart  thrones  belong  to  Christ. 
When  he  rules,  every  subordinate  affection  is  made 
the  richer  and  the  more  pleasing.  If  the  heart 
throne  be  withheld  from  him,  then  our  affections 


Christ  and  Character  23 

rage    and    wander;   they    fall    into    entanglements, 
struggle  with  divergencies,  and  fail  of  holy  functions. 

Communion  with  God  through  the  daily  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  high  and  holy  inheritance 
of  us  all.  When  our  interests  are  God's  interests, 
our  toils  in  harmony  with  his  wishes,  our  commun- 
ion with  him  shall  be  unbroken  and  satisfying. 

No  vigor  of  character  is  possible  without  a 
decision  for  Christ  which  is  radical,  final,  and  irrev- 
ocable ;  a  decision  which  forbids  the  lingering  of 
any  tempter  and  which  brooks  no  invitation  to  go 
astray.  If,  in  a  moment  of  severe  and  unexpected 
trial,  one  should  fall  into  evil,  it  must  not  break  this 
decision.  Immediately  the  heart  must  lift  up  its 
cry  to  Almighty  God  for  pardon  and  restoration, 
for  the  vows  to  God  are  in  thought. 

Continuous  Word  nourishing  is  a  daily  need  of 
the  noble  and  godly  character.  The  succeeding 
generations  in  Christian  life  and  service  all  attest 
in  unbroken  testimony  the  power  and  place  of  the 
Word  of  God  in  daily  spiritual  nurture  and 
development. 

AVe  dare  not  be  negligent  at  this  point.  The 
Word  nourishes  the  passion  for  goodness,  it  nour- 
ishes resistance  against  evil,  it  reinforces  every 
desire  for  holy  living,  and  insures  the  conquest  of 
one's  unworthy  selfhood  in  the  light  of  our  Lord's 
own  countenance. 

Vigor  of  character  calls  for  frequent  and  exacting 
introspection.       This   must   not   be   overdone   or  car- 


24  The  Social  ]Messao:e  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


ried  to  the  point  of  discouragement.  One  must, 
however,  candidly  and  unsparingly  take  inventory 
of  his  own  inner  spiritual  quality  and  life.  He  must 
slay,  without  any  disposition  to  spare,  the  idols  that 
would  usurp  the  Lord's  own  throne  in  the  affec- 
tions. This  introspection  will  call  our  attention  to 
our  growth  and  advancement  in  the  life  of  holiness. 
It  will  indicate  to  one  who  is  thoughtful  just  how 
good  a  use  he  is  making  of  his  time.  It  will  call 
attention  to  any  failure  to  consummate  the  voices 
t^hat  have  called  toward  righteousness. 

In  this  great  work  of  holding  the  character  to  the 
standards  of  eternal  righteousness  one  must  be 
everlastingly  at  it,  for,  in  this  conflict,  as  in  any 
other,  vigilance  is  the  price  of  our  freedom. 

Faithfulness  in  soul  winning  is  a  cardinal  virtue 
with  the  child  of  God,  and  potent  in  maintaining  the 
Christian  character.  At  this  point  we  have  reason 
to  fear  many  make  serious  mistake.  It  is  clearly 
the  New  Testament  conception  that  every  Christian 
is  to  be  a  soul  winner.  It  is  easily  possible  if  one 
but  goes  about  it  with  a  heart  to  do.  Winning 
another  life  to  Christ  is  the  sweet  and  holy  occupa- 
tion of  the  Christ-illumined  soul.  No  Christian 
should  think  of  allowing  any  length  of  time  to 
elapse  without  l)eing  reasonably  sure  that  he  has 
been  used  of  God  in  winning  another  to  the  service. 
Complete  abandonment  to  God,  with  a  daily  acquies- 
cence in  his  will  for  service,  insures  the  strength  that 
fails  not.  Here  are  the  laws  of  efficiency  in  the  Chris- 
tian life. 


Christ  and  Character  25 

A\'hat  are  the  glorious  results  of  the  character 
indicated  and  brought  within  reach  by  the  holy 
influence  and  ministry  of  Jesus  Christ?  We  an- 
swer, as  one  of  the  most  gratifying  results  of  this 
enthronement  in  any  life,  there  will  come  continuous 
transformations,  changes  from  strength  to  strength, 
from  glory  to  glory,  from  purity  to  purity,  and  from 
power  to  power.  Who  shall  set  the  boundary  be}'ond 
which  these  transformations  may  not  go  under  the 
sympathetic  ministry  of  Christ? 

It  also  follows  with  the  obtainment  of  such  char- 
acter, that  a  growing  influence  wall  characterize  the 
life.  Influence  we  all  covet,  and  it  is  a  compliment 
to  our  personality  that  we  do.  To  be  influential 
in  a  good  sense  is  to  be  in  so  much  like  God.  We 
live  not  for  ourselves,  and  it  is  certain  w^e  cannot 
live  to  ourselves.  The  radius  of  a  gracious  human 
life  has  never  been  defined.  It  survives  the  dust 
of  the  gra^•e  and  the  grim  reaper  may  not  cut  it 
down.  It  exercises  peculiar  and  telling  ministries 
during  the  days  of  one's  pilgrimage  on  the  earth, 
and  survives  v/hen  onh^  a  marble  shaft  in  a  quiet 
cemetery  may  undertake,  in  a  material"  way,  to 
remind  one  of  a  name  long  since  erased  from  the 
book  of  the  living.  Growing  influence  is,  then, 
to  be  coveted.  This  will  be  the  normal  result  of 
a  character  which  is  begotten  by  Jesus  Christ,  and 
which  is  daily  nourished  in  the  sw^eet  ministries  of 
the  Word  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Yet,  another  result  of  this  gracious,  Christlike 
character    will    be    the    prevalence    of    triumphant 


26  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

reforms.  Individually,  many  a  life  slips  away,  at 
the-  beginning,  from  its  moorings  and  haven  in 
pure  and  good  living.  In  such  case  there  is  no 
hope  for  life  unless  some  heavenly  influence  fol- 
lowing the  youth-time  shall  recall  to  purity  and 
right.  This  reformative  evangelization  in  adult  life 
is  always  uncertain  and  always  difficult.  How- 
ever, when  it  does  obtain  it  means  the  reform  of 
the  individual,  and  by  so  much  as  his  personal 
influence  counts  the  reform  of  the  community,  the 
State,  and  the  nation. 

The  horizon  of  the  present  generation  is  bedecked 
with  the  stars  of  promise.  These  stars  are  the 
various  reforms  sweeping  over  the  land  in  behalf 
of  human  betterment.  If  we  may  have  Christian 
character  in  our  citizenship  these  reforms  will 
triumph  gloriously.  If  we  may  not  have  Christian 
character  in  our  citizenship  the  chariot  wheels  of 
reform  will  drag  heavily.  In  the  last  analysis 
everything  depends  upon  character. 

Another  characteristic  of  this  type  of  character 
which  justifies  emphasis,  is  the  fact  that  it  inaugu- 
rates in  the  earth  life  the  eternal  felicities.  Our 
little  way  of  three  score  and  ten  is  a  part  of  eter- 
nity. In  the  eternity  of  the  past,  lying  behind  our 
conscious  life,  it  has  been  the  great  pleasure  of  God 
to  excite  the  human  heart  with  joy.  The  con- 
summation towards  which  he  is  constantly  looking 
is  the  restoration  of  joy  on  earth  and  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  joys  of  heaven.  What  these  are  to  be  we 
may  not  know ;  we  can  taste  and  anticipate. 


Christ  and  Character  Z7 

At  the  last,  sorrow  shall  die  and  peace  shall  reign 
supreme ;  the  scars  from  the  battle  of  life  that  have 
marred  our  souls'  history,  bringing  us  hours  of 
disquietude  and  depression,  shall  all  be  erased  by 
the  deft  and  tender  touches  of  the  life  eternal. 
Eternal  felicities  of  the  earth?  Yes.  Eternal 
happiness  here  in  the  human  heart,  and  now?  Yes. 
The  redeemed  soul  can  but  sing  its  rapturous  story. 
It  can  but  burst  from  lips  that  have  been  dumb  and 
express  itself  in  the  very  rhapsody  of  the  soul.  z\ll 
hail  to  the  glorious  coronations  of  Christian  char- 
acter !  It  is  worth  our  while  to  enter  upon  this  conflict 
and  to  win  in  this  battle. 


CHRIST  AND  CULTURE. 
V. 

All  the  calls  of  Christ  are  upward.  He  leads  life 
by  the  spiral  stairway  into  the  heights  of  ever-freshen- 
ing delight.  Any  other  conception  of  the  communions 
and  joys  of  the  Christian  life  is  a  misconception.  In 
this  upward  journey,  in  which  Christ  links  himself 
with  the  human  personality,  he  indicates  interest  in 
every  possible  phase  of  individual  development.  He 
is  indeed,  the  shepherd  leader  who  knows  where  the 
green  pastures  are  located,  and  who  fights  to  the  finish 
the  foes  of  satisfying  ruminations  and  rest. 

The  bliss  of  this  fellowship  and  the  joy  of  this 
communion  are  not  magnified  as  they  should  be,  even 
by  the  people  of  the  church.  It  must  have  occurred 
to  you  that,  in  our  report  on  the  gracious  care  and 
shepherding  of  our  Shepherd  King,  we  have  lacked 
quite  the  enthusiasm  which  the  facts  justify.  The 
blessedness  of  the  Christian  life  can  never  be  de- 
scribed. It  will  take  the  endless  ages  to  unfold  its 
beauty.  Hence,  it  follows  that  with  this  interest  of 
our  great  Shepherd  in  human  joy  and  human  attain- 
ment, his  voice  is  always  on  the  side  of  culture  and 
development  for  the  children  of  men. 

In  his  thought,  "Where  shall  this  culture  begin?" 
the   answer   is,    "With    the   divine    renewal    and    full 


Christ  and  Culture  29 

inspiration  of  the  ego."  Back  of,  and  dominating  the 
will,  using  the  mental  processes,  related  through  the 
senses,  and  evidencing  itself  in  the  sensibilities,  lies 
the  ego,  the  center  of  personality  which  God  would 
inhabit,  beautify,  uphold,  and  perfect.  This  beginning 
of  human  culture,  with  the  beginnings  of  divine  com- 
munion, is  normal  for  human  development.  Strange 
that  the  approach  to  this  subject  of  personal  religion 
should  so  often  be  characterized  by  a  feeling  of  shame, 
of  stupidity,  and  dullness.  Personal  religion  is  as 
normal  to  a  human  being  as  are  limbs  and  organs  to 
the  human  body.  Strange  that  there  should  be  resist- 
ance in  some  sections  of  the  educational  world  to  this 
natural  claim  of  personal  religion  on  the  attention  of 
the  child  and  all  of  the  child's  teachers.  The  voice  of 
the  Scriptures,  for  early  piety,  finds  confirmation  in 
the  psychological  development  of  child  life.  Culture, 
to  be  sure,  involves  the  acquisition  of  knowledge ; 
knowledge  vitalized  by  the  living  teacher;  knowledge 
classified  and  systematized  under  a  curriculum ;  knowl- 
edge by  training  in  handcraft ;  knowledge  by  conver- 
sation, by  books  and  periodicals;  knowledge  by  divine 
worship  and  the  divine  Word ;  knowledge  by  doing ; 
knowledge  by  seeing  and  feeling;  knowledge  by  dis- 
cussion and  comparison. 

\\'e  may  profitably  note  the  contributing  institutions 
of  culture.  At  the  head  of  all  of  them  stands  the 
home,  built  about  two  loving  hearts,  united  in  the  pure 
bonds  of  mutual  confidence  and  affection.  The  home, 
nourished  by  the  most  kindly  influences  of  the  heav- 
enly world ;  the  home,  safeguarded,  protected,  glorified 
by  the  abundant  teachings  of  Holy  Writ ;    the  home, 


30  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

the  source  of  hope  for  added  life  and  the  world's 
future.  We  shall  never  overestimate  the  influence  of 
the' home  in  the  culture  of  the  race.  The  time  is  well 
spent  by  any  nation,  community,  or  individual  who 
shall  patiently  collate  the  discriminating  messages  of 
the  Word  of  God  touching  the  home,  as  related  to  its 
inmates  and  to  all  human  posterity.  Christ  stands  for 
the  home  in  all  its  beauty,  sanctity,  and  power.  Here 
he  would  install  the  love  of-  one  man  to  one  woman. 
Here  he  would  call  into  being  the  offspring,  welcomed 
by  parental  affection  and  nurtured  in  the  breath  and 
atmosphere  of  prayer.  Here  he  would  give  tempera- 
ture and  tone  that  shall  give  character  and  form  to 
subsequent  life. 

A  second  contributing  institution  to  culture  is  the 
church".  The  church  is  the  home  idea  and  atmosphere 
extended  and  organized  about  a  great  common  center. 
The  church  is  the  greater  home  for  all  the  homes,  and 
which  cannot  exist  with  efficiency  unless  vmdergirded 
by  the  original  institution  for  the  training  of  the  race. 
Upon  the  church  devolves  the  responsibility  of  carry- 
ing to  the  highest  general  and  individual  efficiency  the 
holy  influences  that  emanate  in  the  home.  She  is  called 
upon  to  devote  herself  with  unflagging  zeal  and  energy 
to  the  development  of  the  race  in  the  high  and  holy 
art  of  living  well.  Her  appointed  functions  are  sacred 
and  her  influence  an  echo  of  the  divine  purpose  and 
plan. 

Added  to  the  foregoing  comes  the  influence  of  the 
school.  There  can  be  no  question  about  the  testimony 
of  the  Scriptures  for  this  institution.  Wherever 
Christ's  name  is  known  and  revered,  there  the  school, 


Christ  and  Culture  31 

in  all  grades  and  forms,  is  provided,  and  its  great  work 
encouraged.  Its  instrumentality  in  human  culture 
passes  without  challenge.  Care  for  the  school  devolves 
upon  church  and  state ;  and,  sympathetically,  these  are 
one.  Unhappy  the  day  when  sympathetically  they 
drift  apart! 

Yet  another  agency  of  human  culture  is  the  state 
itself.  The  government  is  the  mechanism  through 
wdiich  the  church  is  to  apply  her  holy  influence  and 
energy  to  the  problems  of  public  control  and  direction. 
The  state  may  need  no  formal  union  with  the  church ; 
the  church  may  need  no  formal  union  with  the  state, 
but  by  no  false  view  of  the  functions  of  either  should 
a  chasm  be  allowed  between  the  two.  The  minister 
of  the  church  and  the  minister  of  the  state  are  called 
upon  to  be  at  one.  The  home,  the  church,  the  school, 
the  state,  are  a  holy  quartet,  called  upon  to  act  in 
unison,  thereby  guaranteeing  an  efficient  relationship 
to  the  whole  population.  The  blessing  of  Christ  is  on 
all  of  these  agencies  and  institutions  for  human  better- 
ment. His  mind  and  spirit  in  control  of  them  will 
bring  the  golden  age  for  which  the  centuries  have 
cried. 

What  is  the  value  of  culture?  To  the  individual, 
culture  means  everything  desirable.  One  who  passes 
into  adult  life,  with  all  its  serious  responsibilities, 
without  adequate  culture  always  regrets  the  early  neg- 
lect. To  the  individual,  culture  means  the  enhanced 
value  of  every  native  endowment,  the  judicial  control 
of  every  faculty  of  mind  and  body. 

To  the  family,  culture  has  immeasureable  value. 
The  family  ma}^  not  be  so  situated  as  to  pass  to  their 


32  The  Social  Messasfe  of  Our  Lord 


&' 


children  large  endowments  of  material  good.  The 
children  of  many  families  must  leave  the  home-tree 
and  confront  the  battles  of  life  wholly  dependent  on 
their  own  resources,  so  far  as  earthly  gain  is  con- 
cerned. But,  if  the  family  has  been  properly  ambi- 
tioned  and  properly  atmosphered  on  the  subject  of 
education,  an  inheritance  passes  along  the  line  from 
parent  to  child  that  cannot  be  estimated  by  any  amount 
of  money. 

Next  to  the  legacy  of  a  good  character  is  the  legacy 
of  a  good  education.  The  family  circle  creates  a  great 
center  of  teeming  and  tender  memories.  Age  and  the 
passing  years  calling,  it  may  be,  to  far  distant  scenes 
of  activity,  the  memory  will  often  revert  to  the  scenes 
and  fellowships  of  the  days  at  home.  If  the  family 
life  has  been  built  about  the  exaltation  of  learning, 
floods  of  sweet  memory  will  cheer  the  children  on 
wherever  they  may  roam.  The  urgency  and  kindly 
influence  of  parental  life  in  encouraging  children  to 
an  education  is  a  most  gracious  factor  in  the  home. 
Its  value  is  above  gold.  Gold  perishes,  but  culture  is 
immortal. 

The  value  of  culture  to  society  is  worthy  of  our 
discussion.  Children  soon  grow  away  from  the  home 
life  and,  of  necessity,  become  members  of  society  here, 
there,  and  yonder.  If  they,  themselves,  are  the  prod- 
ucts of  Christian  culture,  they  will  carry  that  air  and 
quest  into  society  wherever  they  move.  The  cultured 
man  or  woman  has  had  awakened  in  his  or  her  own 
mind  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation.  He 
resists  the  tendency  to  dull  monotony  and  intellectual 
decay.     The  mainspring  of  learning  has  been  set  to 


Christ  and  Culture  33 

the  machinery  of  hfe,  and  it  will  run  to  the  last.  A 
fondness  for  learning  carried  into  society  as  the  result 
of  early  culture,  is  an  asset  to  be  highly  valued  in  any 
commonwealth. 

But  what  of  the  value  of  culture  to  the  church  and 
religion?  Since  the  church  stands  for  leadership  in 
all  questions  of  vital  human  interest,  those  who  have 
charge  of  her  pulpits  and  worship  at  her  altars  need 
the  ministries  and  refinements  of  the  broadest  and 
truest  education.  Learning  has  been  designated  as 
the  handmaid  of  religion.  Certain  it  is  that  the  whole 
trend  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  unmistakable  testimony 
of  Christ  in  his  sovereignty  over  human  life,  is  on  the 
side  of  the  deepest  and  most  genuine  culture  from  all 
the  possible  sources  and  institutions  to  which  human 
beings  can  be  related. 

We  may  properly  ask,  "What  are  the  conditions  of 
efficiency  in  human  culture?"  First  and  foremost,  it 
must  be  under  Christian  motives  and  ideals.  This  prin- 
ciple is  fundamental.  It  ought  not  be  abrogated  by  an 
unfortunate  prejudice  against  religion,  or  by  any  neg- 
lect of  its  high  and  helpful  ministries.  It  is  not  extrava- 
gant to  say  that  education  is  absolutely  lost  and  vain 
unless  given,  accepted,  and  used  under  the  high  motives 
and  ideals  which  stand  forth  in  the  divine  Man.  Cul- 
ture should  be  given  in  a  Christian  atmosphere;  this 
to  preserve  from  its  unhappy  association  with  wicked 
and  vicious  character.  An  educated  villain  is  one  of 
the  most  despisable  objects  on  the  earth.  He  has 
brightened  his  mind  by  the  stimulating  processes  of 
culture,  and  yet,  because  he  lacks  in  Christian  charac- 
ter, his  life  is  a  loss,  a  menace,  a  catastrophe. 


34  The  Social  Messas:e  of  Our  Lord 


b' 


Culture  should  be  genuine  and  thorough.  This 
requirement  carried  through  the  home,  the  church, 
the  school,  the  state  will  do  much  to  enhance  the  value 
of  learning.  It  should  also  be  broad  and  continuous. 
Narrow  and  exclusive  culture  makes  one  provincial, 
while  a  culture  that  does  not  extend  throughout  all  of 
one's  career  blunts  and  dulls  any  personality,  however 
brilliant  at  the  onset.  Every  good  process  and  quality 
in  humankind  calls  for  continuity.  The  broken 
shaft  is  not  a  more  certain  impediment  to  efficiency 
and  strength  than  an  abbreviated  temper  and  quest  for 
learning.  Culture  should  be  hospitable,  charitable,  and 
ample;  it  should  be  general  and  special.  General 
education,  because  it  lays  deep  and  broad  those  foun- 
dations that  are  essential  to  any  specialization  in  after 
years ;  special,  because  the  age  demands  that  one 
should  be  highly  efficient  in  some  definite  field  of 
achievement  rather  than  have  a  low  grade  of  efficiency 
in  general  activities. 

How  would  Christ  have  us  extend  the  ministry  of 
culture?  It  is  clearly  his  teaching  that  we  should 
extend  its  ministry  by  the  actualization  of  its  mental 
and  spiritual  ideals.  In  other  words,  cultured  people 
are  called  upon  to  make  good  in  the  real  battles  of  this 
old  work-a-day  world.  Whenever  a  child  of  culture 
goes  bankrupt  in  character,  and  fails  of  a  holy  zeal  for 
learning,  by  so  much  he  interferes  with  the  ministry 
of  learning.  We  may  also  extend  the  ministry  of 
culture  by  exalting  its  spirit  and  advocating  its  claims 
upon  church  and  state ;  also,  by  supporting  its  agen- 
cies and  endowing  its  operations.  The  final  word  to 
us  all  in  this  age  of  libraries,  schools,  colleges,  homes, 


Christ  and  Culture  35 

and  churches  is  for  culture  of  the  complete  and  efti- 
cient  kind.  Culture  of  mind,  of  heart,  and  of  hand. 
Because  life  affords  a  golden  opportunity  for  service, 
and  opens  the  door  to  achievement,  we  must  all  secure 
training,  and,  at  any  cost,  prepare  ourselves  for  the 
splendid  conflicts  and  victories  of  an  earthly  career. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  GREATEST  HANDICAP. 

VI. 

When  the  philosophers  have  had  their  say,  and 
the  theorists  have  handed  down  their  conclusions 
as  to  the  greatest  handicap  of  the  race,  the  testi- 
mony of  history  v^ill  force  us  back  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  one  thing  above  all  others  which  forestalls 
and  impedes  human  progress  is  an  uncleansed  moral 
nature.  Some  politicians  may  not  see  it,  some 
educators  may  not  consent  to  it,  some  devotees  of 
society  may  not  acknowledge  it ;  but  the  fact  re- 
mains :  it  is  sternly  true,  its  confirmation  is  found 
in  the  records  of  human  experience  in  every  century 
of  the  world's  history.  Strange,  the  fact  should 
be  overlooked. 

Sin  corrodes  and  corrupts  human  personality, 
ever  and  always.  Science  and  mere  mental  culture 
have  not  removed  sin.  By  tacit  consent  we  avoid 
the  unpleasant.  One  of  the  standards  of  modern 
conversation  makes  a  demand  that  we  shall  con- 
verse about  agreeable  subjects.  Our  disposition  to 
shrink  from  a  candid  inquiry  as  to  the  importance 
of  moral  cleansing  is  costly  and  not  to  be  encour- 
aged. Delusion  of  any  sort  is  ruinous.  Delusion 
as  to  this  matter  puts  one  in  a  catalogue  with  blind 
Samson  in  the  dungeon  of  Gaza. 


Christ  and  the  Greatest  Handicap  37 

A  man  handicapped  by  an  uncleansed  moral 
nature  is  like  a  seagoing  vessel  with  defective  en- 
gines and  inadequate  power.  An  underpowered 
vessel  may  make  many  voyages  under  peaceful 
skies ;  she  may  pass  into  many  ports  and  deliver 
cargoes  without  serious  delay ;  but  in  the  day  of 
storm  and  stress  she  is  brought  to  a  standstill  in 
the  face  of  the  gale ;  and  when  power  is  most 
needed  she  is  left  to  founder  in  her  helplessness. 

Sin  is  the  enemy  of  power.  By  so  much  as  it 
enters  into  the  human  life  it  diminishes  power. 
Sin  is  a  unit  of  evil.  Its  opposite  is  salvation,  the 
unit  of  righteousness.  When  it  is  unmasked  it 
can  but  hiss  its  abomination  and  malignant  hate 
in  the  face  of  an  offended  God. 

Sin  has  great  variety  in  its  methods  and  seduc- 
tions. It  mocks  God  in  every  attribute  of  his 
nature.  It  is  the  expression  of  satanic  effort  to 
thwart  the  beneficient  plans  of  God  for  the  race. 
Leaves  var)^  in  size,  color,  and  form,  but  all  grow 
from  the  same  trunk  and  tree.  No  matter  about 
the  variety,  sin  has  common  origin  in  the  unit  of 
evil,  an  uncleansed  moral  nature. 

Sin  is  self  isolation  from  God.  Isolation  is  al- 
ways dangerous.  Everything  in  creation  depends 
upon  relationship.  Man^s  peace  and  power,  char- 
acter and  destiny,  depend  upon  his  union  with,  or 
isolation  from  God.  Sin  is  the  erratic  comet  in 
headlong  flight.  It  breaks  away  from  the  laAvs  of 
gravitation  that  hold  to  paths  of  safety  and  orbs 
of  light.      The  comet  is  a  pirate  on  the  high  seas 


38  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

of  space.  Detached  from  its'  mother  body  it  swings 
,into  space  without  control.  It  is  arres-ted  in  its 
wild  flight  at  last,  when  the  attraction  of  some  body, 
which  it  is  passing,  brings  it  into  leash. 

Sin  brings  an  indescribable  sense  of  guilt  to  the 
human  soul.  It  always  means  an  apprehension  of 
approaching  judgment  and  penalty.  Our  guilt  is 
tlie  result  of  a  change  in  our  feelings.  It  is  the 
chill  and  numbness  from  God's  withdrawal.  It 
works  the  ultimate  and  final  distortion.  It  is  the 
permanent  and  all-determining  negation.  Touch- 
ing all  the  cardinal  virtues  and  surpassing  excel- 
lencies the  child  of  God  alone  has  hopeful  and 
powerful    relation. 

We  may  ask,  with  all  candor  and  solicitude, 
"What  is  the  attitude  of  God  toward  the  human 
handicap?''  There  is  such  a  thing  as  rig'hteous 
indignation.  All  correct  thinking  brings  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  God,  by  his  very  nature,  flames  in 
wrath  against  persistent  evil.  The  INIaster's  scourge 
of  cords,  as  he  appeared  in  the  temple,  and  with 
which  he  drove  out  of  the  sacred  enclosure  those 
who  were  doing  violence  to  its  holy  traditions,  indi- 
cates a  permanent  and  commendable  trait  of  the  divine 
character.  God's  wrath  aginst  evil  is  but  the  expres- 
sion of  his  unflinching  condemnation  of  that  which 
despoils  the  world  of  its  purity  and  drenches  it  in 
sorrow. 

A  shattered  life  can  be  repaired  by  God  alone. 
He  only  can  make  human  life  helpful  and  fruitful. 
He  wdio  disregards  this  possibility  and  law^  commits 


Christ  and  the  Greatest  Handicap  39 

an  offense  of  the  most  far-reaching  seriousness. 
Between  man  and  man  we  may  accept  an  apolog-y. 
God  only,  and  alone,  can  really  forgive  sin.  Sin 
fixed  up  between  man  and  man  is  only  half  settled. 
The  deepest  wound  of  a  ruined  and  godless  life  is 
on  the  very  heart  of  Deity.  God  can  forgive  only 
because  grace  is  stronger  than  the  law.  There  is 
both  pity  and  power  in  the  forgiveness  of  God. 
The  same  Lord  who  said,  "Thy  sins  be  forgiven 
thee,"  said  also,  ''Arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk." 

God  pardons  our  sins  that  he  may  fill  us  with  new 
moral  power.  Christ  not  only  proposes  to  cover, 
but  to  cure  our  evil.  As  to  the  faults  and  failures 
of  a  forgiven  man,  God  looks  far  deeper  than  any 
human  observer.  To  know  any  man  at  his  worst 
is  not  to  know  him  at  all.  Divine  forgiveness  deals 
with  penalty.  It  also  removes  the  obstacle  to 
communion.  This  communion  God  is  always  seek- 
ing. It  is  foremost  in  all  his  plans,  and  most  effi- 
cient in  the  fact.  The  moment  a  soul  is  united  to 
Christ  a  vitalizing  process  begins. 

We  may  never  forget  that  divine  forgiveness  is 
costly.  There  is  no  place  in  the  whole  trainsaction 
for  spiritual  dishonesty.  The  mystery  of  the  atone- 
ment is  half  explained  \Vhen  we  recall  that  it  ex- 
presses God's  exaction  and  integrity  in  the  moral 
realm.  The  atonement  is  the  greatest  transaction 
in  human  history.  Surveying  the  whole  human 
horizon,  nothing  more  sublime  appears. 

Finally,  let  us  review  the  attitude  of  the  cross  to 
the  greatest  human  handicap.     No  American  ques- 


40  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

tions  the  value  of  what  transpired  on  Bunker  Hill. 
At  mention  of  the  name  his  heart  is  aflame  with  a 
bounding  sense  of  the  bravery,  patriotism,  and 
devotion  of  the  fathers  of  his  country.  Bunker 
Hill  is  a  great  place  in  American  thinking,  because 
it  witnessed  an  unquestioned  act  in  behalf  of 
country  and  liberty.  Who  can  estimate  the  value 
of  the  sacrifice  on  the  cross?  Calvary,  with  all  that 
was  back  of  it,  was  the  price  of  human  pardon. 

Forgiveness  may  not  end  entirely  the  natural 
results  of  sin.  It  does,  however,  rebegin  the  life 
under  the  over-shadowing  grace  and  protection  of 
Almighty  God.  There  is  no  place  for  gleeful  sin- 
ning. Forgiveness  may  not  touch  the  bent  to 
sinning;  this  must  be  taken  up  subsequent  to  the 
experience  of  pardon,  and  dealt  with  in  the  tender- 
ness and  depth  of  a  continuous  care  for  righteous- 
ness and  rectitude  in  God's  type. 

Sunken  war  vessels  may  not  carry  the  flag  of 
commissioned  service  again.  They  may  lie  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  dismantled,  and  forever  unused, 
the  abode  of  denizens  of  the  deep.  Church  harbors 
contain  many  submerged  and  dismantled  lives.  It 
becomes  the  serious  work  of  the  church  and  the 
problem  of  the  ministry  to  cooperate  with  Almighty 
God  in  recovering  submerged  lives  and  in  re- 
christening  and  repowering  those  who  have  gone 
astray.  Wrecked  vessels  maist  be  raised  and  refitted 
if  made  effective.  Men  everywhere  need  the  up- 
lifting, cleansing,  and  refitting  touch.  We  need 
the  fresh  and  unexpired  commission.  Thank  God 
for  the  miracle  of  human  repair. 


CHRIST  AND  HUMAN  ABILITY. 
VIL 

There  are  two  types  of  life:  the  one  is  on  the 
plane  of  strictly  human  ability  and  effort.  Somebody 
has  cliaracterized  it  as  ''the  ennobling  spirit  of  strug- 
gle." Just  how  much  of  creditable  human  achievement 
is  to  be  attributed  to  this  spirit  in  the  world,  we  may 
not  know.  It  is  evident  that  a  persistent  determination 
to  achieve,  even  when  disassociated  with  any  recog- 
nized religious  inspiration,  has  value  and  strength. 
Much  may  be  accomplished  by  dint  of  will  and  work. 
Steady  concentration  of  the  mind  on  any  task  is  a 
guarantee  of  at  least  slow,  though  laborious  advance. 

Another  type  of  life  has  origin  in  what  we  may  term 
"divine  inspiration."  This  involves  spiritual  insight 
and  faith.  It  means  superhuman  uplift  and  illumina- 
tion. It  recognizes  energy  and  power  quite  above  and 
apart  from  one's  self.  It  sometimes  occurs  that  both 
of  these  types  of  life  have  the  same  objective.  Either 
type  produces  its  own  variety  of  character.  Either 
type  must  be  regarded  as  incomplete  if  alone.  United, 
these  types  make  the  complete  character.  Illustrations 
are  afforded  in  such  men  as  Gladstone,  Robertson, 
Brooks,  Roosevelt.  If  one's  life  shall  be  put  on  the 
plane  of  mere  human  ability,  with  no  outlook  and 
uplook  toward  the  divine  and  supernatural,  one  may 
climb,  but  it  must  be  painfully  and  slowly.     He  must 


42  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

be  the  more  often  defeated  by  hindrances.  He  must 
hve  his  life  in  the  twilight  instead  of  the  noonday. 
Much  of  his  talent  must  be  non-effective  and  unnur- 
tured. 

"To  do  easily  what  is  difificult  for  others  is  a  mark 
of  talent."  "To  do  what  is  impossible  to  others,  no 
matter  how  talented,  is  inspiration."  Any  study  of 
passing  humanity  reveals  the  fact  that  there  are  many 
talented  people  who  are  not  inspired,  and  vice  versa. 
Talent  has  been  referred  to  as  "a  thing  weighed."  We, 
therefore,  hear  of  a  "weighted  mind,"  a  "rich  mental 
endowment."  We  easily  comprehend  the  fact  that 
talent  pertains  to  the  mind ;  hence,  properly  we  say 
"a  talented  mind,"  but  never  "a  talented  heart." 

Toward  all  human  ability  Christ  sustains  the  rela- 
tion of  utmost  friendliness,  and  that  friendliness  is 
never  withdrawn  until  the  mind  has  so  given  itself 
over  to  evil  bent  as  to  destroy  the  influences  of  the 
Christ  nurture  and  action.  Friendliness  of  the  human 
personality  to  Christ  is  rewarded  a  thousandfold  in 
the  splendid  reactions,  visitations,  and  communions 
that  flow  from  one's  acquaintance  with  him. 

Our  Lord  stands  for  the  spiritual  inspiration,  main- 
tenance, and  endowment  of  all  human  ability.  When 
human  ability  becomes  immoral,  it  eclipses  itself  from 
his  enrichment  and  communion.  It  is  the  plan  of 
Christ  that  there  shall  be  interpenetrations  between 
human  ability  and  his  inspirations.  He  would  have 
the  individual  wait  reverently  before  him  for  the 
advent  of  divine  and  religious  inspiration.  He  would 
have  the  heart  religionist  seek  high  mentality  and  the 
use  of  every  possible  worthy  human  resource. 


Christ  and  Human  Ability  43 

Let  not  talent,  though  strong  and  self-reliant,  forget 
that  there  is  a  plane  of  higher  power.  It  is  the  very 
strateg\^  of  Satan  to  keep  inspiration  and  human 
ability  from  uniting  into  the  highest  energy  and  effi- 
ciency. Christ  would  have  the  man  of  inspiration 
accept,  with  all  heartiness,  the  drudgery  of  hard  study 
and  strenuous  toil.  He  would  warn  such  a  one  against 
becoming  a  grand  master  in  the  art  of  lying  down 
when  difficulties  hedge  the  way.  Christ  would  have 
men  careful  to  deserve  inspiration  and  careful  to 
retain  its  far-reaching  ministry  and  enriching  influ- 
ence. Inspiration  from  Christ  is  the  power  of  ample, 
comprehensive,  and  worthy  achievement.  It  is  the 
power  of  working  availably  and  helpfully  in  the  whole 
circle  of  one's  life. 

Intellect  and  reason  are  valuable  and  essential  ele- 
ments of  the  human  personality ;  but  there  is  a  force 
available  and  coming  within  the  scope  of  human  out- 
reach that  is  deeper  than  intellect  and  reason.  It 
comes  because  of  that  provision  which  the  divine 
Lord  has  made  for  the  introduction  into  human  experi- 
ence of  the  inexhaustible  powers  and  forces  which 
emanate  from  him.  These  forces  spring,  forth  in 
connection  with  an  honest  and  genuine  faith. 

Christ  stands  for  the  mighty  quickening  of  the 
spiritual  nature.  All  of  life  that  precedes  this  quick- 
ening is  "death"  and  "sleep."  It  is  eminently  rational 
that  our  Lord  should  say  to  every  man,  "Ye  must  be 
born  again."  All  human  ability  stands  in  need  of  this 
divine  enrichment ;  its  practical  utility  in  the  problem 
of  human  life  and  achievement  is  beyond  all  question. 
Previous   to   the   moment   of   one's    definite   and    full 


44  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

religious  inspiration  there  are  touches  and  periods  of 
preparatory  influence  and  effort  on  the  part  of  Christ 
to  possess  his  throne  in  the  human  heart.  This 
accounts  for  temporary  feelings  of  conviction  for 
wrong  doing,  and  of  conviction  for  righteousness. 
These  touches  and  occasional  visitations  are  a  source 
of  hope,  and,  if  properly  treated,  bring  upon  the  human 
soul  the  permanent  divine  indwelling. 

Individual  inspiration  is  the  effective  message  in 
religion.  The  educated  man  has  the  greater  ability  to 
use  religious  inspiration.  It  follows  that,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  possession  of  marked  ability  of  any 
kind  in  one  should  mean  the  larger,  the  superior,  the 
more  influential  life.  It  is  not  always  so.  Some  indi- 
viduals with  great  ability  in  several  directions  fail 
seriously  and  fail  finally,  because,  upon  their  human 
abilities  they  would  never  permit  to  descend  the  in- 
spiration that  Christ  would  pour  into  the  heart  and  life. 

THE  SUBLIME  MOMENT  AND  EXPERIENCE  FEATURED. 

Life  on  the  dead  level  of  unaided  human  ability 
must  often  be  dull,  monotonous,  and  disappointing. 
He  who  dwells  apart  from  God  consciously  realized  in 
the  soul  must  often  feel  the  chill  which  is  always  the 
result  of  a  divine  absence.  May  we  not  describe,  to 
a  certain  measure  of  profit,  what  are  the  features  of 
the  moment  and  the  experience  when  Christ's  inspira- 
tions touch  and  vitalize  the  whole  personality?  It  is 
fair  to  say  that  the  moment  and  fact  of  such  incomipg 
inspiration  is  intuitively  recognized. 

In  a  sense,  our  struggling  and  striving  cease — cease 
for  the  moment  in  the  very  ecstasy  of  the  divine  visita- 


Christ  and  Human  Ability  45 

tion  and  incoming,  displaced  by  a  quiet  and  satisfied 
receptivity  as  the  life  of  God  flows  into  the  soul.  It 
brings  a  sense  of  superhuman  and  assuring  strength. 
It  releases  one  to  natural  and  spontaneous  relations  to 
God  and  his  law.  The  Bible  has  a  new,  fresh,  and 
invigorating  significance.  God  is  not  far  off,  but  at 
hand.  There  comes  a  sense  of  rest  to  the  weary  soul ; 
it  is  the  advent  of  ''intuitive  religious  life."  All  this 
is  no  more  incredible  than  the  inspiration  of  artist  or 
musician. 

A  word  here  to  the  religiously  inspired :  Rest  not 
on  the  initial  experience;  it  is  capital,  but  for  immedi- 
ate enlargement  and  investment.  Do  not  do  business 
too  long  on  this  one  spiritual  event ;  there  are  heights 
beyond.  If  you  hesitate  to  go  in  quest  of  them,  you 
v/ill  exhaust  the  power  of  the  initial  visitation.  Follow 
up  its  holy  advantage.  Act  on  its  most  delicate  intima- 
tions. Insist  definitely  with  yourself  on  the  ''ascent 
of  the  spiritual  consciousness."  Remember  that  it  is 
Christ's  order  that  we  remove  through  repeated  and 
enlarged  inspirations  to  ever  higher  planes.  The  initial 
inspiration  is  forerunner  to  those  more  mighty  and 
transforming.  We  must,  by  all  means,  remove  by  safe 
distances  from  the  starting-point.  The  initial  experi- 
ence is  the  point  of  departure  from  the  uninspired  life. 
We  shall  need  even  more  than  the  "second  blessing," 
good  and  splendid  as  that  may  be.  The  higher  we  go 
the  wider  the  horizon.  We  may  reach  the  altitude  of 
a  glorious  inclusiveness ;  mark  the  play  of  the  more 
beautiful  lights  and  shades.  It  is  the  altitude  where 
all  the  discords  of  the  earth  die.  God's  horizons  have 
an  expanding  boundlessness  everywhere. 


46  The  Social  Alessage  of  Our  Lord 

In  this,  the  ascent  of  Hfe,  we  shall  find  the  need  of 
periodical  readjustments,  where  the  whole  ground  of 
the.  character  foundations  and  inspirations  must  be 
gone  over  with  care  and  precision.  Let  us  not  fear 
these  necessary  periods;  they  will  yield  us  only  gain. 
Neglect  of  this  duty  is  the  occasion  of  so  many  impov- 
erished lives.  Let  it  ever  be  remembered  that  while 
no  real  growth  discredits,  falsifies,  or  minifies  any 
previous  stage,  neither  will  real  growth  be  satisfied 
short  of  a  constant  quest  for  the  heights  above.  The 
beginnings  grow  dearer  the  farther  we  are  removed 
from  them.  The  childhood  home  never  seems  half  so 
sweet  as  when  many  leagues  separate,  and  memory 
spans  the  space  to  reinstall  one  in  the  place  where  life 
had  its  beginning. 


CHRIST  AND  HUMAN  INSPIRATION. 

VIIL 

Ix  I.  Thessalonians  2:13,  we  read,  "The  teaching 
of  God,  who  is  even  now  at  work  in  you."  From  this 
statement,  which  refers  to  the  gospel  as  the  teaching 
of  God,  with  its  message  of  instruction  covering  all 
that  is  vital  in  life,  the  writer  passes  to  call  attention 
to  the  fact  in  the  after  part  that  God  works  within  the 
human  personality.  This  statement  is  over  and  over 
again  affirmed  in  a  variety  of  expressions  in  Holy 
Writ.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  Christ  intends  to 
work  within  us  as  well  as  without  us. 

The  Lord's  objective  in  individual  inspiration  is  the 
elevation  of  the  race.  In  a  very  important  sense  the 
whole  race  was  elevated  in  the  inspiration  of  David 
and  Paul.  So  of  all  the  great  characters  whom  it 
has  pleased  God  to  use  in  the  functions  of  inspiration. 
Paul  and  David,  for  illustration,  were  the  mouthpieces 
of  our  Lord  for  a  distinct  and  specific  purpose,  beyond 
that  of  their  own  religious  development.  While  only 
a  few  were  needed  to  produce  the  Bible,  everybody 
needs  to  be  the  recipient  of  the  individual  inspiration 
under  discussion,  in  order  that  he  may  exemplify  and 
pass  the  divine  message  along. 

If  it  be  said  that  in  presenting  the  duty  and  privi- 
lege of  individual  inspiration,  there  is  danger  of 
fanaticism,  let  us  be  reminded  of  the  fact  that  there 


48  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

has  been  provided  an  accurate  test  for  the  inspirations 
tliat  may  come  to  men.  Any  inspiration  from  Christ 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  correlates  with  the  divine 
Word.  The  Bible,  therefore,  is  our  book  of  reference, 
and  we  can  easily  determine  by  its  laws  and  principles 
whether  our  inspirations  are  from  the  right  source, 
and  therefore  trustworthy.  We  have  no  doubt  that 
spirits  of  evil  have  access  to  the  human  mind;  exag- 
gerated emotions  may  become  mischievous  and  work 
harm,  but  we  shall  not,  on  this  account,  fail  to  empha- 
size the  universal  need  of  individual  inspiration  by 
Jesus  Christ. 

Individual  inspiration  gives  one  a  proper  estimate 
and  appreciation  of  the  Scriptures.  If  doubts  have 
been  in  the  mind  about  their  validity,  authenticity,  and 
inspiration,  they  are  all  removed  under  this  gracious 
experience.  Sometimes  one's  individual  inspiration  is 
like  the  dawnings  of  intellectual  life.  In  other  cases, 
this  consciousness  may  be  sudden  and  rapid  in  its 
development  and  satisfying  testimony.  At  any  rate 
and  in  every  case,  it  is  a  gratifying  and  strengthening 
experience.  This  individual  inspiration,  by  which  one 
correlates  with  the  Word  of  God,  revolutionizes  char- 
acter and  life.  If  preceded  by  intense  and  clear  prep- 
arations, the  soul  bursts  into  the  joy  and  freedom  of  a 
new  citizenship.  This  individual  inspiration  makes 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  welcome.  Its  precepts  and 
laws  mark  the  glad  boundaries  of  all  our  activities. 
Its  law  is  our  liberty.  We  come  to  feel  that  there  is 
no  despotism  in  the  duties  imposed  by  Holy  Writ. 

It  should  be  observed,  furthermore,  that  while  God 
has   used   human   beings   in   the   transmission   of   the 


Christ  and  Human  Inspiration  49 

Scriptures  to  the  race,  the  human  element  has  not 
impaired  the  divine  authority.  The  goal  is  the  inspira- 
tion of  humanity.  Individuals  are  the  points  of  con- 
tact for  divine  action ;  some  of  them  rise  like  moun- 
tains set  against  the  sky;  they  have  been  used  to  give 
a  message  that  the  world  will  never  allow  to  die. 

Inspiration  is  greater  than  personality.  No  matter 
what  may  be  said  with  regard  to  the  personality,  bril- 
liant, attractive,  aggressive,  or  what  not,  the  indefin- 
able quality  which  comes  by  the  inspiration  is  the  all- 
vitalizing  element  and  all-determining  factor.  Alan 
in  God's  order  is  to  be  the  instrument  of  the  divine 
plans  and  purposes.  Christ  would  elevate  him  by  the 
use  to  which  he  devotes  him. 

We  may  think  of  Christ  as  we  think  of  a  dynamo 
in  some  mountain  canon.  The  dynamo  is  gendering 
power.  It  is  saying  constantly  within  itself :  'Tf  the 
wires  are  but  strung,  I  will  be  away  into  the  city  and 
turn  its  wheels  of  transportation  and  manufacture.  I 
will  light  its  streets,  its  homes,  its  hospitals,  through 
the  long  and  dreary  night.  I  will  warm  its  chilled 
apartments  and  bring  the  glow  of  comfort  to  the  poor 
and  the  sufifering."  So  God  is  ever  saying:  'T  would 
be  away  into  a  thousand  ministries  of  love,  relief,  and 
help ;  but  I  must  get  hold  of  men  and  women  and 
children.  If  I  can  but  get  hold  of  them  I  will  inspire 
them,  and  that  inspiration  will  give  them  power  to  be 
and  do." 

There  are  obstructions  and  foes  to  individual  in- 
spiration. One's  prejudices  of  any  kind  may  hinder. 
One's  selfishness  or  self-worship;  one's  stupidity,  lack 
of  alertness,  lack  of  quest,  lack  of  application,  lack  of 


50  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

high  and  holy  resolve.  Because  individual  inspiration 
is  hindered,  we  have  varying  degrees  of  spiritual 
development. 

There  are  varying  degrees  of  intellectual  and  moral 
attention.  This  accounts  for  the  lack  of  uniformity 
and  even  unanimity  in  the  religious  and  moral  senti- 
ments of  different  communities  and,  indeed,  of  the 
whole  race.  This  also  accounts  for  the  various  types 
and  degrees  of  Christian  experience.  After  all,  the 
great  question  is  the  question  of  the  thorough,  full, 
complete,  continuous  inspiration  from  Jesus  Christ, 
the  dependable  source. 

Let  us  look  a  moment  at  the  undeniable  need  of  this 
individual  inspiration.  The  natural  moral  sense  of 
mankind  at  flood  tide  in  the  history  of  the  race  v^^as 
expressed  in  that  significant  inscription  found  by  St. 
Paul  on  Mars  Hill.  It  read,  *'To  the  unknown  God." 
If  this  be  the  highest  crest  in  the  movement  of  the 
native  moral  sense  of  mankind,  it  goes  without  argu- 
ment that  men  must  be  uplifted  from  above.  They 
must  needs  open  their  natures  to  the  divine  inbreath- 
ing. Universal  personal  inspiration  is  the  ultimate 
goal;  and  it  can  come,  and  will  come,  if  we  shall 
allow,  by  the  divine  action  on  the  moral  sense  of 
mankind. 

The  instrument  places  certain  limitations  on  the 
musician.  He  is  always  greater  than  the  instrument 
he  uses.  It  must  always,  after  all,  inadequately  afford 
the  outflow  of  the  pent-up  harmonies  that  play  across 
his  own  soul.  We  are  to  be  the  instruments  on  which 
Christ  would  play  the  harmonies  of  holiness.  We  put 
limits  upon  what  God  would  do  in  the  world  when  we, 


Christ  and  Human  Inspiration  51 

for  any  reason,  refrain  from  those  inspirations  that  he 
is  ready  to  give. 

Again,  this  individual  rehgious  inspiration  should 
be  emphasized  and  sought  because  it  means  reserve 
power.  Anywhere  and  everywhere,  if  every  particle 
of  power  is  used  in  any  performance,  there  is  rapid 
and  irreparable  exhaustion.  Reserve  power  is  the 
measure  of  personality.  Because  inspiration  provides 
for  power,  even  beyond  the  exactions  of  our  daily 
service  and  cares,  it  is  the  prime  requisite  for  all  man- 
kind. It  is  to  be  sought  as  our  chiefest  good.  It  is  to 
be  thought  of  as  we  think  of  bread  for  physical  life; 
it  is  not  a  luxury,  but  a  necessity. 

This  inspiration  is  mightier  than  selfishness.  Any 
power  that  will  correct  the  selfishness  of  the  human 
heart  and  reanchor  it  is  a  power  of  infinite  and  vital 
value  to  society.  Selfishness  is  answerable  for  so  much 
that  is  mischievous,  cruel,  troublesome,  that  any  pro- 
vision for  its  curtailment,  control,  and  effacement 
should  have  our  immediate  consideration.  It  is  the 
abiding  function  of  our  Lord  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  provide  this  inspiration. 

No  accounting  for  the  facts  of  history  until  we  have 
taken  into  our  estimate  this  experience  of  inspiration. 
Men  and  women  have  risen  gloriously  above  their 
environments,  to  triumph  in  beautiful  and  sublime 
achievements.  Their  rise  and  maintenance  in  the 
higher  altitudes  of  living  have  but  one  occasion  and 
source ;  their  springs  have  been  in  God. 

This  inspiration  is  majestic  and  sublime  because  it 
produces  constructive  moral  conviction.  It  builds  the 
advancing  public  sentiments  on  all  questions  of  mor- 


52  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

ality.  It  establishes  with  growing  clearness,  command- 
ing distinction  between  the  right  and  wrong.  It  thor- 
oughly enlists  the  conscience  on  the  side  of  high 
achievements.  Nothing  is  done  until  the  right  thing 
is  done.  We  need  to  consider  that  God  looks  at  our 
purity,  not  at  our  paint,  our  pretension,  our  appear- 
ance. We  must  allow  greater  scope  for  this  inspira- 
tion; give  it  a  larger  place;  magnify  more  generously 
its  wonderful  ministry;  reckon  upon  its  supernatural 
aid. 

God  changes  his  method  of  inspiration,  but  not  the 
fact.  He  has  ceased  to  call  upon  men  to  be  the 
vehicles  of  Holy  Writ;  but  he  has  not  ceased  to  ask 
men  everywhere  to  accept  the  inflow  of  his  own  quick- 
ening life,  to  the  end  that  the  standards  of  life  called 
for  in  the  Book  may  be  made  potent  and  real  in  our 
civilization.  Our  inspiration  is  demonstrated,  or  our 
lack  of  it,  by  the  use  to  which  we  put  our  talents  and 
possessions.  This  is  the  universal  test.  Churches, 
communities,  nations,  individuals  stand  in  need  of  this 
inspiration,  for  it  glorifies  and  extends  human  duty. 
We  may  be  crammed  with  information  of  a  high  and 
helpful  order,  but  until  inspiration  has  warmed  and 
vitalized  it,  and  vitalized  us,  our  information  is  dull 
and  deadly.  For  this  inspiration  we  must  pay  the 
price.  To  possess  it,  we  must  meet  the  terms.  To  be 
under  commission  from  this  holy  source,  we  must  be 
ever  sensitive  to  the  will  and  mastery  of  Jesus  Christ. 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS. 

IX.  ' 

By  social  institutions  we  mean  those  institutions 
of  our  civilization  in  which  we  all  have  common 
interest  without  regard  to  creed,  wealth,  or  social 
distinction.  First  among  these  we  may  place  the 
family,  which  some  tell  us  is  a  passing  incident. 
This  observation,  coming  from  recent  agitation 
against  the  existing  social  order,  is  not  deserving 
of  extended  comment  or  notice.  The  history  of  the 
family  in  connection  with  civilization  has  been, 
withal,  so  uniformly  in  its  favor  that  any  expecta- 
tion of  its  removal  from  modern  social  institutions 
is  certainly  baseless  and  hopeless.  Just  why  cer- 
tain critics  should  advance  argument  in  favor  of 
abolishing  the  family  may  not  be  easily  seen. 
Some,  however,  have  been  heard  to  say  that  chil- 
dren should  be  the  common  inheritance  and.  care  of 
the  public;  that  the  family  is  often  non-ef¥ective 
and  hollow  in  its  spirit  and  influence ;  that  its 
removal  from  institutions  of  civilization  would  pro- 
mote human  happiness  and  advance  the  welfare  of 
mankind.  We  need  only  to  call  attention  to  the 
necessary  relations  and  training  required  for  all 
young  life.  The  abolition  of  the  family  would 
divorce  offspring  from  the  tender  care  and  solicitude 
prompted  by  an  affection,  the  like  of  which  does  not 


54  The  Social  Messasre  of  Our  Lord 


23' 


exist  anywhere.  The  love  of  parent  to  offspring 
has  been  implanted  within  the  constitution  of  man 
by  the  Creator  for  a  beneficent  and  wise  purpose. 
No  institution,  however  philanthropical  in  its  con- 
ception and  however  well  manned,  can  ever  take  the 
place  of  a  father  and  a  mother  and  the  atmosphere 
of  the  home.  Public  institutions  designed  for  the 
care  of  dependent  children  are  efficient  only  as  they 
approximate  the  tender  and  careful  ministries  of  a 
well-ordered  family  life.  When  the  best  has  been 
done  that  can  be,  through  those  institutions,  they 
fall  far  short  of  the  efficiency  which  the  well-ordered 
family  affords.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  family  is 
ordained  of  God,  and  will  continue  to  serve  in  the 
interests  of  a  godly  and  worthy  posterity  until  the 
end  of  time. 

Private  property,  another  social  institution  of  our 
civilization,  has  been  designated  as  a  symbol  and 
method  of  social  oppression.  This  criticism  calls 
up  for  earnest  consideration  the  question  of  legiti- 
mate use  of  what  we  call  private  property.  That 
there  have  been  abuses  by  the  rich  of  their  steward- 
ship over  large  fortunes  and  much  wealth,  no  one 
can  deny.  The  prodigal  use  of  material  good,  its 
employment  in  catering  to  the  most  silly  indul- 
gences and  uncalled-for  luxuries  in  the  presence  of 
so  much  abject  want  and  poverty,  must  always  call 
for  unfavorable  comment.  The  possession  of  pri- 
vate property  has  been,  by  some,  regarded  as  en- 
tirely their  own  affair;  its  administration,  subject 
only  to  their  individual  whims  and  wishes.      The 


Christ  and  Social  Institutions  55 

refining  influences  of  the  religion  of  Christ  evi- 
denced in  advancing  ideals  of  human  stewardship 
over  property  is  responsible  for  a  quickened  public 
attention  at  this  point,  ^love  and  more  the  wealthy 
will  be  compelled  to  pay  respect  to  a  wholesome 
public  sentiment  with  regard  to  the  use  and  amass- 
ing of  great  wealth.  Doubtless  the  legislation  of 
our  country  will  continue  to  call  in  question  the 
right  of  a  single  family  to  transmit  to  its  own  heirs, 
from  generation  to  generation,  fabulous  sums  of 
monev  without  a  laro-er  reference  to  the  burdens 
imposed  by  necessary  taxation  and  the  general 
necessities  of  the  entire  world. 

''Cosmopolitanism"  is  a  great  word.  It  stands 
for  an  advancing  enlightenment  touching  the  obli- 
gation of  favored  individuals,  organizations,  and 
iiations  toward  the  need  of  the  world. 

This  word  and  its  spirit  are  prompted  by  Jesus 
Christ.  In  what  he  did  and  said  he  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  interest,  conscience  and  control  touching 
this  important  problem.. 

Our  civilization  will,  doubtless,  become  more  and 
more  sensitive  to  the  general  social  claim  of  the 
current  generation,  and  both  by  the  constraints  of 
legislation  and  the  growing  conviction  that  all  the 
fundamental  and  natural  endowments  are  intended 
for  all,  will  provide  for  the  rights  of  all.  A  grow- 
ing zeal  and  care  at  this  point  is  a  symtom  of  the 
age  which  can  be  interpreted  with  unerring  cer- 
tainty. The  ideals  put  forth  by  Jesus  Christ  must 
more  largely  govern  the  distribution  of  wealth,  or 


56  The  Social  Messasfe  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


the  present  restlessness  under  conditions  of  poverty 
will  grow  more  and  more  insistent. 

The  state  as  one  of  our  social  institutions,  as  to 
function  and  office,  is  in  a  period  of  transition. 
Doubtless  the  framers  of  our  Constitution  never 
dreamed  of  the  federal  authority  which  is  exercised 
to-day  by  the  general  government.  This  centrali- 
zation of  power  has  become  necessary  because 
unscrupulous  citizens  have  usurped  control  of  local 
government  in  behalf  of  preferred  interests.  When- 
ever this  local  control  has  become  so  manifestly 
selfish,  unjust,  and  cruel  as  to  infringe  upon  the 
rights  of  the  public,  the  indignation  of  the  people 
has  arisen  like  a  flood.  The  appeal  has  been  made, 
and  not  in  vain,  for  the  rescuing  hand  of  the 
national  or  state  government. 

The  wisdom  of  our  fathers  in  providing  for  gov- 
ernment, with  graded  measures  of  independence, 
from  the  township,  the  county,  the  city,  the  state, 
to  the  nation,  is  more  and  more  apparent.  These 
wheels  within  wheels  are  counteractive  in  their 
work.  They  play  back  and  forth  upon  one  another, 
and  fit  as  fractions  into  the  whole  unit  of  our 
civilization.  The  tendency  to  make  larger  reference 
to,  and  use  of  the  federal  government,  under  proper 
limitations,  is  a  wholesome  tendency  of  the  hour. 
With  all  our  provincialism  and  semi-isolation  into 
the  smaller  political  divisions,  we  are  yet  a  great 
whole.  All  the  parts  are  merged  into  the  vital 
national  life. 


Christ  and  Social  Institutions  57 

The  criticism  passed  upon  the  state  at  this  time — 
and  the  word  "state"  stands  for  all  sorts  and  grades 
of  government — is  based  on  the  conviction  that 
government  has  become  the  instrument  of  privil- 
eged classes.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  con- 
viction prevalent  in  any  large  measure  will  abso- 
lutely destroy  the  American  republic.  Our  govern- 
ment is  built  on  the  conception  that  every  individual 
is  a  sovereign,  and  that  whatever  power  and 
authority  may  be  conceded  to  the  government  is 
by  the  consent  of  the  governed.  This  must  remain 
the  fact  for  all  time  if  our  ship  of  state  is  to  be  held 
off  the  coast  that  bristles  with  rocks  that  wreck. 
The  moment  the  abuses  of  government  are  such  as 
to  justify  and  create,  in  a  considerable  portion  of  our 
people,  the  feeling  that  privileged  classes  are  operat- 
ing the  government  to  their  own  advantage,  we 
shall  have  revolution  and  ruin.  At  this  point  every 
citizen  of  this  republic  should  tarry,  deliberate,  and 
decide. 

The  American  republic  is  putting  to  the  test  the 
principle  and  theory  of  self-government.  We  have 
not  yet  demonstrated  the  entire  safety  of-  this  en- 
couraging assumption.  If  we  should  fail  to  carry 
to  a  successful  issue  our  great  civilization  under  this 
advanced  pronouncement  of  governmental  control, 
we  should  set  back  the  calendar  of  progress  by  a 
thousand  years.  The  seriousness  of  our  obligation 
at  this  point  cannot  be  over-estimated.  It  is  only 
Hs  Ave  preserve  the  state  as  an  instrument  of  control 
and  administration,  absolutely  above  all  just  ground 


58  The  Social  Messas:e  of  Our  Lord 


fc.' 


for  suspicion,  that  we  can  hope  to  carry  forward  our 
people  to  the  inspiring  goals  of  American  life. 

By  an  overruling  Providence,  current  agitation  as 
to  social  institutions  is  more  and  more  turning 
on  the  moral  issues.  At  bottom  the  social  question 
is  an  ethical  issue.  A  decision  that  it  is  wholly 
economical  is  only  reached  because  of  a  surface  view 
of  the  whole  question.  The  modern  social  agitation 
springs,  primarily,  from  a  somewhat  prevalent  sense 
of  wrong.  For  instance,  men  look  on  and  ask  how 
material  progress  can  possibly  mean  low  wages  and 
pauperism.  It  is  well  known  that  the  sum  total  of 
American  wealth  is  increasing  every  year  at  a  fabu- 
lous and  unprecedented  rate.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
to  be  wondered  at  that  this  restless  age  should  have  a 
spirit  of  inquiry  as  to  the  justness,  equality,  and  fair- 
ness of  the  prevailing  social  orders.  There  is  coming, 
indeed,  a  new  sense  of  social  equity  by  which  the 
inquiry  is  taken  up  as  to  what  are  the  real  claims  and 
rights  of  all  men. 

The  imperative  cry  for  social  righteousness  will 
not  down.  What  is  right  awd  wrong  in  social 
conduct  is  a  question  of  growing  interest.  We  are 
thinking  of  it  more  than  we  ourselves  recognize. 
It  is  sifting  through  the  products  of  our  presses. 
It  is  echoing  in  our  pulpits.  It  is  present  in  our 
schools.  In  the  midst  of  such  agitation  and  inquiry 
every  one  of  us  must  feel  the  call  for  personal 
devotion  and  unselfish  service  as  most  imperative. 
The  hour  demands  self-control  and  wisdom  as 
perhaps  no  other  hour  has  ever  demanded. 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  SYMPTOMS. 
X. 

Current  social  symptoms  are  more  and  more  engag- 
ing the  attention  and  thought  of  the  most  intelHgent 
and  fair-thinking  people.  The  symptoms  are  manifold 
and  easily  noted.  They  are  attracting  attention  and 
inviting  comment.  They  are  calling  forth  a  great 
variety  of  interpretation,  some  of  which  certainly  have 
merit,  and  others  of  which  may  be  far  from  it. 

Any  earnest  effort  at  interpretation  is  to  be  com- 
mended. It  seems  clear  that  these  symptoms  are  an 
expression  of  education  and  prosperity  as  well.  The 
general  progress  of  education,  which  makes  its  absence 
noteworthy  in  every  instance,  is  having  its  eft"ect  upon 
public  sentiment  and  public  conduct.  Education  quick- 
ens the  mental  processes  and  creates  a  growing  spirit 
of  independence  and  fearlessness.  It  also  engenders 
a  self -consciousness,  which  is  sure  to  be  more  insistent 
on  personal  rights.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  country  and  the  distinguish- 
ing prosperity  by  which  some  men  are  amassing  such 
large  fortunes,  is  calling  general  attention  to  the  mate- 
rial resources  which  it  would  seem  should  become  a 
blessing  to  all.  Prosperity,  as  certain  as  poverty,  raises 
many  questions  for  solution. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  present  social  symptoms 
are  an  indication  of  a  growing  social  vitality.     That  is 


60  The  Social  ^Message  of  Our  Lord 

to  say,  the  social  consciousness  of  the  people  is  laying 
hold  upon  the  vital  problems  of  life  and  insisting  on 
thorough  investigation  as  to  the  relation  which  certain 
effects  must  have  to  certain  causes.  The  profound 
thoughtfulness  which  is  to  be  observed  in  American 
life  is  occasioned  by  a  revival  of  moral  responsibility, 
which,  unquestionably,  is  taking  deep  root. 

There  is  a  rising  tide  of  moral  and  spiritual  life 
which  is  finding  outlet  in  new  social  interest  and 
activity.  It  follows  that  the  moral  quality  of  the 
social  question  gives  it  interest  to  all  right-minded 
people.  Ministers  and  educators,  editors  and  authors, 
laborers  and  capitalists  are  aroused  with  the  spirit 
of  inquiry.  Let  us  believe  it  is  a  fresh  effort  for  a 
better  world,  here  and  now. 

In  speaking  of  this  question,  a  prominent  waiter 
says,  'Tnto  the  dry  channel  of  the  older  ethics  is  pour- 
ing the  new  blood  of  social  interest."  This  new  blood 
of  social  interest  is  charged  thoroughly  with  moral 
interrogatory  in  a  growing  tide  of  public  opinion.  The 
question  of  what  is  ethically  good  and  its  relation  to 
what  is  economically  desirable,  is  being  investigated 
with  a  mighty  purpose  to  reach  a  correct  conclusion. 

More  people  than  ever  before  are  saying,  "What  is 
ethically  good  cannot  bring  economical  disaster."  Also, 
that  anything  ethically  bad  cannot  be  economically 
beneficial.  The  bearing  which  these  conclusions  have 
upon  various  vicious  and  questionable  phases  of  our 
civilization  is  self  evident.  If  the  liquor  traffic,  for 
instance,  is  ethically  wrong,  it  is,  beyond  question, 
commercially  ruinous.  Just  now  the  American  public 
is  having  a  sensitive  nerve  toward  this  sentiment.     It 


Christ  and  Social  Symptoms  61 

is  cutting  deep  into  the  thought  and  poHcy  of  the  state. 
It  is  influencing  executive  and  legislative  departments 
of  government.  This  is  hopeful  and  is  a  prophecy  of 
the  day  when  the  liquor  traffic  shall  be  made  an  outlaw 
throughout  the  whole  nation. 

It  seems  very  evident  that  there  is  a  vital  relation- 
ship between  the  new  social  agitation  and  the  Christ 
of  Nazareth.  The  social  question  is,  at  bottom,  a 
religious  question.  This  truth  may  not  be  as  largely 
recognized  in  certain  quarters  as  the  facts  warrant, 
but  it  is  slowly  and  surely  making  its  way  to  the  fore 
in  all  discussions  of  this  great  question.  Who  knows 
but  from  this  very  fact  is  to  come  forth  the  next  great 
revival  of  religion  in  the  United  States.  It  is  but 
rational  to  suppose  that  the  church  of  Christ  will 
stand  in  the  gateway  and  demand  justice  and  equality 
for  all.  Xo  matter  where  that  demand  shall  strike, 
it  must  be  respected  and  it  must  be  applied.  The 
rights  and  value  of  the  humblest  human  soul  must  be 
respected.  The  soul  may  have  some  very  undesirable 
qualities,  but  we  must  more  and  more  raise  the  ques- 
tion as  to  how  largely  the  present  social  order  figures 
in  these  undesirable  qualities. 

There  is  regnant  in  the  consciousness  of  men  a 
strong  desire  for  spiritual  democracy.  Righteousness 
is  becoming  the  test  of  institutions,  customs,  and  per- 
sons. Everything  unfruitful  is  doomed.  The  ethical 
principle  applied,  raises  the  question  of  utility  and 
humaneness.  Socialism  and  Christianity,  under  the 
true  definition  of  both  terms,  must  and  will  come  to 
unison  and  agreement. 


62  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  .church  is  coming  to  a 
new  social  effectiveness.  She  is  broadening  the  range 
of  her  ministry  to  men.  She  is  doing  more  things  in 
the  six-day  life  of  the  world.  She  is  insisting  that  her 
temples  of  worship  shall  not  only  swing  open  their 
gates  on  Sunday,  but  shall  invite  the  presence,  and 
provide  for  the  blessing  of  all  the  people  during  seven 
days  of  the  week. 

The  efforts  of  the  church  were  never  as  compre- 
hensive as  they  are  to-day.  The  utility  of  the  Chris- 
tian experience  is  being  resurveyed  and  reestimated. 
The  church  is  more  and  more  showing  a  disposition 
to  go  into  the  slums  and  dark  places  of  the  land  and 
patiently  take  up  the  burden  of  human  elevation  at 
any  cost.  This  policy  may,  and  will  require  some 
readjustments  in  the  schedule  and  scope  of  church 
activity,  but  these  adjustments  are  bound  to  come. 
Yea,  they  are  already  here  and  in  hopeful  progress. 

It  seems  certain  that  with  this  more  hospitable  atti- 
tude of  the  church  toward  the  problems  and  rights  of 
the  less  favored  classes,  the  instincts  that  should  have 
drawn  men  to  religion  in  the  past,  but  may  not  have 
done  so,  will  prevail  and  secure  the  legitimate  result. 
The  very  things  that  prompt  a  fair-minded  laboring 
man  to  go  into  the  unions  and  cooperative  societies 
might  well  find  satisfaction  and  response  in  the  church 
of  Christ.     Why  not  so? 

More  and  more  the  church  and  the  masses  must  be 
together.  If  they  are  apart  anywhere  and  to  any 
extent,  it  is  because  both  have  drifted.  The  mission 
of  the  church  is  absolutely  to  all  men,  of  every  race, 
language,  and  clime;  to  the  rich  and  to  the  poor;  to 


Christ  and  Social  Symptoms  63 

the  learned  and  to  the  ignorant.  The  heart  and  pas- 
sion of  Christ  lays  hold  upon  men  as  they  are,  and 
proposes  upbuilding  from  whatever  altitudes  they 
occupy.  Be  it  said  to  the  praise  of  the  Christian  gospel 
that  it  is  impartial,  uniformly  hospitable,  and  provides, 
in  its  intention  and  spirit,  for  an  equal  chance  for  all 
men. 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  PROGRESS. 
XL 

The  achievements  of  mankind  through  all  the 
centuries  may  be  analyzed,  classified,  and  assigned 
to  periods  or  epochs.  Human  history  seems  to 
have  moved  forward  in  cycles.  There  is  continuity 
and  relationship  everywhere,  with  notable  grouping 
of  events,  which  it  is  interesting  to  study  from  the 
standpoint  of  cause  and   effect. 

'Age  characteristics,  under  a  little  patient  study, 
stand  out  like  mountains  against  the  sky.  From 
these  mountains  we  locate  the  facts  of  history  and 
organize  our  theories  of  human  progress.  These 
rugged  outlines  which  mark  the  age  movements 
yield  rich  returns  to  the  student.  History  is  not 
a  jumble  without  progress  or  order.  There  is  a 
place  of  beginning,  a  scope  for  development  and  legiti- 
mate and  ultimate  result. 

We  are  coming  more  and  more  to  see  that  every 
age  has  its  mission.  As  much  may  be  said  of 
every  race  and  nation  on  earth.  Each  one  has  had 
its  function,  served  its  purpose  in  a  general  and 
comprehensive  plan,  and  in  case  of  retirement  it 
has  been  for  good  and  manifest  reasons. 

The  Almighty  is  the  supreme  economist.  His 
plan  is  that  nothing  shall  be  lost.  All  the  events 
of  mankind  are  within  the  scope  of  his  overruling 


Christ  and  Social  Progress  65 

and  masterful  providence  and  scheme.  Within 
these  boundaries  human  qualities  have  ample  test, 
development,  and  reward. 

Some  ages  are  conscious  of  their  mission.  They 
become  sensitive  to  it,  take  it  up,  exalt  it,  and 
gather  about  it.  It  is  a  great  thing  for  an  age,  a 
race,  or  nation  to  be  conscious  of  its  mission  ere  it 
pass  from  the  scene  of  action. 

To  have  a  consciousness  of  mission  is  to  have 
added  to  one's  life  a  pronounced  strength  and  re- 
source. Nations  or  individuals  may  move  forward 
under  only  a  depressing  sense  of  blind  fate,  for  any 
form  of  fatalism  paralyzes  the  highest  human 
achievement.  One  must  have  a  consciousness  that 
a  purpose  is  being  wrought  throug'h  his  life,  making 
life  worth  while,  if  he  is  to  carry  forward  his  work 
with  strength. 

We  get  a  sense  of  age  function  or  national  func- 
tion usually  when  our  view  is  from  the  lapse  of 
years.  It  may  be  the  vision  will  come  before  the 
period  of  achievement  is  ended.  It  may  be  long 
delayed.  Details  always  melt  at  a  distance.  Any 
generation  is  apt  to  be  swallowed  up  with,  details. 
It  is  not  easy  for  an  age  to  rise  above  these  and 
grip  the  mighty  and  determining  currents  of  life 
and  progress  intelligently.  To  do  this  is  a  high 
type  of  human  mastery. 

The  age  seems  to  be  keenly  conscious  of  certain 
social  maladjustments.  This  consciousness  in  some 
quarters  is  becoming  acute.  It  is  liable,  under  such 
circumstances,  to  lead  to  radical  and  ill-advised  action. 


66  The  Social  Messa«:e  of  Our  Lord 


&' 


A  worthy  indignation  against  what  is  certainly  wrong 
is  always  commendable.  But  even  so  good  a  quality 
and  temper  must  be  kept  under  control. 

The  keen  observer  concludes  that  there  is  war 
between  our  economic  development  and  our  social 
ideals  of  liberty,  justice,  and  equality.  Ought  this 
war  to  exist?  Can  it  be  avoided?  If  not,  how  shall 
it  be  conducted?  What  temper  must  we  bring  to 
the  firing  line?  There  w^ill  certainly  be  a  call  for 
patience  and  a  demand  for  heroism.  Such  a  conflict 
tries  the  moral  quality  and  the  exalted  purposes  of 
men. 

Any  study  of  this  subject  would  be  incomplete 
which  did  not  take  into  account  the  social  and 
spiritual  ideal  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  These 
ideals  are  finding  expression  in  noteworthy  social 
service;  also,  in  social  legislation  which,  even  a 
few  years  ago,  would  not  have  been  thought  of, 
much  less  have  been  made  a  matter  of  record.  This 
has  come  legitimately  by  the  peaceful  processes  of 
social  evolution. 

Our  social  ideals  may  find  expression  in  the  pro- 
test of  passion  and  hatred.  This  is  not  well.  It  is 
to  be  avoided  for  the  good  of  all  concerned.  There 
is,  to  be  sure,  a  demand  for  a  better  social  world, 
which  will  not  down.  Every  man  may  as  w^ell 
take  notice  that  nothing  short  of  an  honest  attempt 
to  meet  the  issue  will  save  the  day.  Any  man  who 
looks  can  see  more  than  weather  signs.  Our  Lord 
referred  to  those  in  his  day  who  were  observant  of 
these,  but  who  w^ere  not  reading  or  interpreting  the 


Christ  and  Social  Progress  67 

real  signs  of  the  times.  In  certain  vital  respects 
we  must  have  relief  or  we  shall  invite  revolution. 

It  is  an  age  of  unusual  activity  in  all  kinds  of 
organization.  Organization  means  a  fight.  It 
means  alignment  on  a  given  issue.  It  means  the 
utilization  of  all  possible  resources  for  much-desired 
results.  Our  conceptions  of  governmental  func- 
tions are  changing.  The  age  is  in  a  profound  agita- 
tion, the  modern  temper  is,  in  some  respects,  radical^ 
and  certainly  w^ill  insist  on  reconstruction  and  re- 
adjustment. Respect  for  w^hat  is  ancient  and  for 
conservatism  may  be  altogether  desirable,  but  the 
age  w^ill,  in  many  respects,  make  precedents  when 
none  are  to  be  found.  The  hour  is  teeming  with 
life  and  tremendous  consciousness  of  power.  Tem- 
porary measures  of  relief  are  not  enough. 

Let  us  observe  with  interest  the  remedial  move- 
ments which  have  passed  into  American  history. 
A  great  wave  of  public  indignation  and  sentiment 
swept  out  slavery  and  freed  a  subject  race.  Another 
is  sweeping  out  the  saloon.  It  will  soon  cease  to 
be  under  the  American  flag.  Another  wave  is 
sweeping  out  unscrupulous  corporate  rule.  There 
is  a  demand  that  men  who  take  advantage  of  the 
law  of  incorporation  shall  insist  and  guarantee  that 
the  business  of  the  corporation  shall  be  conducted 
upon  the  same  basis  of  honesty,  fair-mindedness, 
and  square  dealing  as  any  individual  business. 

Another  rising  tide  is  compelling  the  moral  issue 
in  politics.  Far  too  long  has  a  long-sufifering  peo- 
ple  been    imposed    upon    by   the   loose    and    illogical 


68  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

conclusions,  that  in  politics  moral  principles  were 
to  be  unknown.  By  a  strange  neglect  we  have 
allowed,  in  many  cases,  political  affairs  to  go  by 
default  so  far  as  the  attention  of  upright  men  was 
concerned.  There  has  been  far  too  ready  a  consent 
to  allow  the  professional  and  immoral  politician  to 
manipulate  the  aft'airs  of  the  state.  The  day  for 
such  a  mockery  of  statecraft  is  rapidly  passing.  In 
the  thought  of  Jesus  Christ  the  state  is  sacred,  and 
the  church  must  enforce  this  view  by  consistent 
methods. 

The  new  social  interest  is  dealing  with  causes  as 
well  as  effects.  For  instance,  the  present  inquiry 
as  to  the  occasion  of  poverty  is  digging  deep  and 
will  not  be  satisfied  until  the  causes  of  poverty  are 
located,  branded  as  they  deserve,  and  eradicated 
from  the  national  escutcheon.  We  are  inquiring 
why  the  effects  of  industry  are  often  associated  with 
so  much  that  is  cruel,  debasing,  and  unjust.  Why 
cannot  business  and  industry  be  placed  on  a  plane 
of  mutual  good  and  higher  efficiency.  Such  a  view 
of  the  present  case  is  not  ethereal  or  impractical. 

It  is  no  more  certain  that  two  and  two  make  four 
than  that  the  placing  of  business  transactions  and 
industrial  regulations  on  the  basis  of  Christ's  law 
will  yield  the  most  satisfactory  returns  in  the  long 
run,  to  both  capital  and  labor.  Wiping  out  the 
demoralizing  American  liquor  shop,  it  is  a  question 
as  to  whether  there  would  be  a  call  for  charity  if 
the  social  system  were  administered  in  impartial 
justice.      At  least,  it  is  a  legitimate  inquiry  to  raise 


Christ  and  Social  Progress  69 


fc)' 


the  question  as  to  how  nearly  we  might  efiface 
poverty  if  the  American  saloon  and  attendant  vices 
were  obliterated,  if  the  industrial  operations  of  the 
country  were  conducted  in  absolute  equity  to  all 
parties  concerned.  Along  these  lines  of  inquiry 
the  American  people  are  moving  with  an  unalter- 
able determination  to  get  at  the  facts.  God  speed 
them  in  their  quest. 


CHRIST'S  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  SOCIAL 
PROBLEMS. 

XII. 

Probably  the  briefest  and  yet  clearest  embodiment 
of  the  attitude  of  Christ  toward  social  problems  is 
indicated  in  a  favorite  text,  which  is  recorded  in  John's 
Gospel,  ''For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  myself."  Note, 
then,  our  Lord's  perfect  friendliness  to  social  institu- 
tions. The  very  center  of  his  life  revolved  about  a 
group  of  people  whom  he  selected  with  tender  consid- 
eration and  characteristic  wisdom.  This  little  group 
was  trained  to  receive  his  ideals,  share  his  toils  and 
triumphs.  He  moved  forward  in  his  career  under  the 
assumption  that  he  must  be  represented  and  his  doc- 
trines extended  by  this  group  of  sympathetic  lives. 
This  group  idea  pervades  the  social  life  of  the  race 
in   all  lands. 

He  entered  feelingly  and  with  appreciation  into  the 
social  life  of  the  people.  He  was  not  a  recluse,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  cultivated  the  fellowship  of  the  people. 
It  was  his  pleasure  to  have  an  unbroken  relationship 
to  the  social  life  of  his  time. 

He  deliberately  mingled  with  all  classes.  It  is 
usually  far  easier  for  one  to  select  certain  social  circles 
in  which  he  finds  affinity,  common  interest,  and  sym- 
pathetic tastes.  This  habit  with  our  Lord  would  have 
been  disastrous  to  his  influence  and  the  scope  of  his 


Christ's  Attitude  Toward  Social  Problems       71 

ministry.  He  came  to  be  the  friend,  not  of  one  class, 
but  of  all  classes.  There  is  preeminent  wisdom  in 
such  a  method  of  human  contact.  Any  other  method 
must  always  result  in  abridged  sympathies  and  an 
imperfect  ability  to  enter  into  the  real  needs  of  those 
about  us. 

He  exalted  the  family.  No  circle  was  more  attrac- 
tive to  him  than  the  home  circle.  His  retreat  to  the 
hiome  at  Bethany  up  to  the  very  last,  including  that 
most  eventful  Passion  Week,  will  forever  touch  the 
heart  of  the  world.  His  presence  at  the  marriage  also 
indicated  how  fully  he  gave  approval  to  this  founda- 
tion of  home  life. 

He  was  friendly  to  the  rich,  for  did  he  not  warn 
them  touching  the  dangers  that  arise  from  abundant 
\\  ealth  ?  He  indicated  his  purpose  to  guard  the  heart 
against  the  deceitful  entanglements  of  riches.  His 
teaching  on  the  subject  of  covetousness  is  no  small 
part  of  his  ministry. 

He  was  ever  ready  to  comfort  the  poor ;  they  appre- 
ciated his  friendship ;  they  shrank  not  from  his 
approach.  They  seemed  to  feel  it  perfectly  safe  for 
liim  to  know  all  about  them;  they  depended  upon  his 
friendship,  sought  his  counsel,  and  revered  him  to  the 
end. 

Nobody  questions  the  fact  that  his  very  highest  con- 
cern was  for  the  soul's  personal  relation  to  God. 
Touching  any  other  matter  of  interest  to  men,  he  was 
keenly  alive,  but  at  this  point  his  great  heart  flamed 
into  passionate  desire.  He  made  it  very  clear  that 
every  earthly  good  was  not  to  be  compared  with  tlie 
rich  inheritance  of  divine  grace  and  salvation  for  the 


72  The  Social  Messae^e  of  Our  Lord 


t>' 


soul.  At  no  time  did  he  permit  any  side  issue  to  bury 
from  sight  this,  his  one  all-dominating  objective  of  his 
mission. 

He  did  the  work  of  a  reformer,  and  his  message 
wrought  great  social  agitations.  But  he  was  not,  first 
of  all,  a  reformer  or  an  agitator.  He  was  a  Redeemer, 
a  revealer  of  the  final  truth  touching  the  deliverance  of 
the  human  soul  from  the  bondage  of  sin  into  the  free- 
dom of  the  sons  of  God.  His  revelations  were  like 
the  floods  of  sunlight  hurrying  across  the  deserts, 
chasms,  and  dangerous  pits  of  human  life,  indicating 
the  way  of  safety. 

He  was  an  idealist,  with  such  a  vision  as  had  never 
been  given  to  mortal  man.  He  looked  out  upon  the 
earth  and  saw  its  beneficent  beauty.  He  looked  into 
the  skies  to  admire  their  azure  blue.  He  passed  over 
the  waters  to  appreciate  their  reflections  and  provi- 
sions for  life.  But,  above  all,  his  vision  of  the  spiritual 
need  of  mankind,  and  of  the  glorious  power  that 
Heaven  stood  ready  to  extend  to  men  in  their  struggle 
for  righteousness,  was  the  distinguishing  vision  of  this 
prince  among  men. 

His  mission  w^as  preeminently  religious.  Religion 
had  not  had  its  legitimate  and  normal  place  in  human 
thinking.  He  laid  emphasis  upon  its  vital  relationship 
to  all  the  interests  and  activities  of  humanity.  While 
he  encouraged  interest  in  every  legitimate  thing,  he 
laid  special  emphasis  upon  the  matter  of  seeking  first 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

His  is  the  gospel  of  spiritual  redemption.  That 
announcement  will  not  mislead  us  into  a  conclusion 
that  he  lacked  interest  in  the  every-day  affairs  and 


Christ's  Attitude  Toward  Social  Problems      7?i 

struggles  of  life.  On  the  contrary,  it  indicates  his 
supreme  wisdom  and  his  full  knowledge  of  the  true 
philosophy  of  human  existence.  He  presented  the 
central  force  in  human  experience. 

It  was  impossible  that  he  should  escape  more  or  less 
appeal  in  behalf  of  the  social  problems  of  that  age. 
When  asked  to  decide  a  controversy  touching  an  estate, 
he  replied  in  a  warning  against  covetousness.  He 
refused  entanglement  of  any  kind  which  might  for  a 
moment,  even,  eclipse  the  glorious  religious  mission  on 
which  he  had  come  to  the  earth. 

His  message  and  personal  influence  could  but  come 
in  contact  with  the  forms  of  civil  government  incident 
to  his  time.  Thoughtful  people  promptly  reached  the 
conclusion  that  such  a  gospel  must  have  its  effect  upon 
civil  government.  He  admitted  this,  and  was  not 
averse  to  such  an  interpretation  of  himself  or  of  his 
message.  He  did  not  aim  primarily  at  governmental 
reforms,  though  he  knew  full  well  that  the  principles 
he  came  to  establish  and  the  powers  he  came  to  release 
into  human  society  would  have  their  effect  upon  polit- 
ical administrations. 

His  attention  to  social  questions  was,  therefore, 
incidental.  Is  not  this,  after  all,  the  only  attention 
that  is  effective?  Is  it  not  true  to-day  that  when- 
ever a  civilization  takes  up  as  the  one  supreme  con- 
cern of  human  life  the  possession  and  distribution  of 
m.aterial  good  it  makes  a  fatal  mistake?  Social  ques- 
tions, as  full  of  interest  as  they  are,  as  urgently 
demanding  solution  as  they  do,  and  appealing  in  some 
cases  to  visitations  of  judgment  as  they  do,  are,  never- 
theless, not  as  important  as  the  matter  of  character 


74  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

and  spiritual  relation  to  the  kingdom  of  righteousness. 
That  civilization  has  reached  a  high  type  of  wisdom 
when  it  places  first  things  first,  for  only  by  so  doing 
can  the  real  enrichment  and  blessing  which  subordinate 
good  was  intended  to  supply,  come  to  the  children  of 
men.  We  do  so  fatally  err  by  undertaking  to  reverse 
the  divine  order  and  economy. 

He  had  an  objective  which  he  regarded  as  being 
vitally  related  to  all  social  problems,  and  in  this  view 
he  was  not  mistaken.  All  human  development  con- 
firms the  wisdom  of  his  estimates  and  doctrines.  He 
promptly  raised  the  question  of  the  spiritual  motive 
underlying  social  demands.  Modern  social  demands 
can  be  sifted  in  no  other  way  so  quickly,  or  their  im- 
portance and  justice  determined  so  readily,  as  by  sub- 
mitting them  to  the  test  of  the  spiritual  motive.  A 
laboring  man  may  have  as  unworthy  a  motive  for  an 
increased  wage  as  a  capitalist  may  have  for  the  in- 
crease of  his  capital.  In  either  case  the  question  of 
spiritual  motive  is  vital. 

The  very  heart  of  our  Lord's  message  was  spiritual 
renewal.  The  social  teachings  of  Christ  have  been 
correctly  denominated  a  by-product.  The  gospel  is 
not,  first  of  all,  a  program  of  social  reform,  although 
its  prevalent  acceptance  and  the  general  experience  of 
its  power  is  the  one  sure  agency  for  social  reform. 

Our  Lord  gave  himself  to  specific  cases  in  his  con- 
tact and  teaching.  It  is  certain  that  he  attached  great 
value  to  the  single  personality,  the  unit  of  all  social 
life.  Much  of  his  time  was  given  to  talks  with  single 
individuals  and  with  loving  acts  of  relief  to  individuals. 

It  may  be  said  that  his  teachings  were  in  some  sense 


Christ's  Attitude  Toward  Social  Problems       75 

fragmentary.  However,  this  much  is  true,  that  a  care- 
ful analysis  of  all  his  deliverances  will  indicate  the 
profound  harmony  which  possessed  his  mind.  He 
reduced  all  wisdom  to  a  few  simple  principles  and  laws 
of  unquestioned  efficiency  and  value. 

He  made  it  clear  that  the  spirit,  rather  than  the 
letter  of  the  New  Testament  is  vital.  The  spirit  of 
the  New  Testament  is  a  unit ;  it  is  the  unit  which  this 
age  needs  above  all  else  to  discover  and  apply.  A  part 
of  our  task,  left  to  us  for  our  own  good,  is  the  quest 
through  fragmentary  utterances  for  the  mind  of  the 
Lord.    It  is  best  so. 

The  artist  does  not  argue  about  beauty.  He  goes  to 
a  canvas  and  with  a  few  dashes  of  his  brush,  his 
training  throws  into  vision  the  picture.  No  question 
but  our  Lord  has  given  in  his  gospel  the  real  picture 
touching  the  relativity  of  all  human  values  and  interest. 

Our  appreciation  as  to  what  Christ  has  disclosed 
and  what  he  stands  for  is,  in  a  large  measure,  depend- 
ent upon  the  abilities  and  perceptions  with  which  we 
are  possessed.  There  are  many  forms  of  blindness ; 
moral  and  spiritual  blindness  is  more  prevalent  than 
physical  blindness,  and  even  more  distressing  an-d  fatal. 
When  once  the  eye  is  single  the  whole  body  is  filled 
with  light.  When  through  refinements  of  heart  and 
elevations  of  character  we  give  welcome  to  a  correct 
and  discriminating  view  of  conduct,  of  right  and 
wrong,  we  shall  have  no  trouble  in  getting  the  simpli- 
fied unity  of  the  Christ's  message. 

Our  Lord  used  what  some  of  the  professions  call 
the  "case  method."  Great  lawyers  are  trained  in  the 
general  principles  of  the  law ;  but  their  real  skill  is 


7()  The  Social  Messas^e  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


evidenced,  and  the  thoroughness  of  their  knowledge 
verified  and  put  to  the  test  when  they  come  to  deal 
with  case  after  case,  each  having  its  own  complexities 
and  problems.  So  in  medicine  a  physician  graduates 
from  the  medical  college  with  the  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  the  modern  system  of  materia  medica, 
but  he  will  be  a  failure  in  his  profession  unless  he  has 
the  skill  and  discernment  to  make  correct  diag^nosis  of 
each  case  and  apply  his  knowledge  accordingly. 

In  some  cases  our  Lord  set  out  to  soften  the  bed  ; 
in  other  cases,  to  harden  the  man ;  under  either  policy 
and  method  the  result  would  be  the  same.  He  trained 
his  disciples  to  fundamental  habits  of  mind,  to  funda- 
mental experiences  of  the  soul,  and  to  fundamental 
ability  in  the  resistance  of  evil.  He  provides  certainly 
for  the  constitutional  need  of  the  race.  He  moves  ever 
to  the  target  with  unerring  precision.  He  is  bent  on 
purified  character,  redeemed  personality,  sanctified 
and  glorified  life.  His  supreme  mastery  over  the  prob- 
lem of  sin  and  his  sovereignty  in  the  realm  of  man's 
salvation  appear  as  clear  as  the  noonday  sun. 

Christ  was  lofty  in  his  conceptions  and  doctrines  of 
God.  He  was  accurate  and  unerring  in  his  analysis 
of  man.  He  adhered  to  certain  fundamental  lines  of 
control  and  policy,  which,  as  largely  as  might  be, 
he  would  apply  to  all  men  and  to  all  circumstances; 
but  he  had  the  rare  ability  to  discern  what  an  occasion 
in  itself  should  suggest  and  demand.  He  viewed 
social  problems  in  the  correct  perspective  and  propor- 
tion. The  right  perspective  is  as  important  in  social 
questions  as  in  camera  operation.  It  is  a  great  vital 
law. 


CHRIST  COMPETENT  IN  SOCIAL 
PROBLEMS. 

XIII. 

That  beautiful  statement  of  the  prophet  in  which 
he  refers  to  our  Lord  in  these  words,  "The  gov- 
ernment shall  be  upon  his  shoulders,"  has  a  wider 
significance  and  application  than  has  been  gener- 
ally supposed.  By  a  strange  fallacy  of  judgment 
and  a  surprising  lack  of  penetration  this  old  w^orld 
so  often  proposes  to  have  the  government  emanate 
from  any  other  source  than  from  Christ  the  Lord. 
The  world  has  never  quite  known  what  to  do  v.'ith 
him. 

There  are  in  certain  quarters  peculiar  resistances 
against  anything  that  squints  toward  the  settle- 
ment of  problems,  or  defining  objectives  of  organ- 
izations by  reference  to  Jesus  Christ.  Oh.  what 
blunders  we  mortals  do  make !  The  government  of 
Zi'Jiat  upon  his  shoulder?  The  government  of  the 
man,  the  government  of  the  labor  organization,  the 
government  of  the  capitalists'  organization,  the  gov- 
ernment of  private  operations,  and  the  government 
of  corporations,  the  government  of  society,  the 
government  of  nations,  the  government  of  the 
world.  Like  a  poor  bird  beating  out  its  life  because 
it  will  insist  on  trying  to  fly  through  solid  objects, 
so   we,   poor   mortals,   beat   ourselves   into    misery. 


78  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 


&' 


distraction,  irritation,  wrath,  malignant  hate,  class 
strife,  and  nameless  ills  because  we  are  not  wise 
enough  to  know  and  not  holy  enough  to  desire  that 
the  government  shall  and  ought  to  be  upon  his 
shoulders. 

WHY  CHRIST  IS   COMPETENT. 

Note  his  distinguishing  tranquility  and  elevation 
of  mind.  His  repose  and  serenity  were  never  really 
disturbed.  Oh,  what  a  triumph,  and  with  what 
marked  contrast  does  this  quality  in  our  Lord  shine 
forth!  To  be  tranquil  under  all  circumstances  is 
indeed  a  great  evidence  of  power;  to  hold  the  mind 
in  undisturbed  elevation  so  that  the  survey  of  all 
matters  referred  to  it  shall  be  candid,  dispassionate, 
judicial,  discriminating,  and  thorough  is  indeed  a 
miracle  of  life  and  personality.  Such  quality  is 
worthy  of  God. 

Christ  w^as  possessed  of  a  unique  sagacity.  That 
he  was  tender  of  heart,  that  he  was  urbane  of  mind, 
that  he  was  forbearing  in  temper,  that  he  was  meek 
in  spirit,  that  he  was  pure  in  heart,  is  generally 
accepted ;  but  that  he  was  possessed  of  an  unparal- 
leled sagacity  is  not  so  generally  recognized.  Christ 
was,  indeed,  the  most  sagacious  moral,  spiritual, 
and  social  leader  that  has  ever  had  to  do  with  this 
planet  of  ours. 

His  was  the  complete  mental  horizon.  We  may 
always  be  uncertain  of  outcome  when  we  have  to 
do  with  the  man  of  limited  horizon.  There  are  so 
many  things  that  may  fix  this  limit.  Prejudice 
may  do  so,  so  that  the  man  can  see  only  in  the  frac- 


Clirist  Competent  in  Social   Problems  79 

tion  of  a  circle.  Questionable  habits  may  establish 
this  limit;  a  dull  moral  sense,  a  perverted  nature; 
a  compromise  with  evil  will  bring  this  dread  result. 
One  difficulty  with  us  all  in  our  treatment  of  one 
another,  in  our  view,  especially  of  the  interests  and 
rights  of  others,  is  this  lack  of  complete  view. 

Our  horizon  broadens  as  we  arise.  For  most 
part  we  live  too  close  to  the  earth.  The  heights 
above  us  are  but  little  frequented,  hence  our  stupid- 
ity,  lack  of  charity,  and  incomplete  activity. 

Christ  came  with  the  full  acquaintance  of  human 
nature.  He  is  sane  in  his  judgment  and  profound 
in  his  sympathy.  The  wickedness  of  men  was  not 
a  surprise  to  him,  for  did  he  not  know  the  depths 
of  evil  in  the  human  heart?  Was  he  not  in  pos- 
session of  knowledge  as  to  the  ministry  of  demons 
and  the  degeneracy  of  mortals  vx'hen  he  approached 
the  problem  of  saving  a  lost  race,  and  consented  to 
undertake  the  mighty  task?  He  did  it  understand- 
ing full  well  the  depth  to  which  human  nature  had 
sunk,  and  the  awful  conflict  that  would  be  necessary 
in  order  to  bring  salvation.  He  knew  the  worst 
about  us,  yet  came  to  save  us ;  the  evil  of  the  human 
heart  did  not  rob  him  of  his  sympathy  and  interest. 

The  very  fact  that  our  Lord  came  from  the  world 
above  us  gave  him  insight  into  our  awful  problems. 
He  descended  into  the  arena  and  sphere  of  the 
races'  life  advantaged  because  he  was  from  above. 
His  viewpoint  was  the  perfect  viewpoint.  His 
sense  of  values  had  been  adjusted  in  a  latitude  and 


80  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

longitude  where  no  magnetic,  currents  could  warp 
his  judgment  or  impair  his  insight. 

I'f  it  be  said  that  because  our  Lord's  mission  was 
preeminently  religious,  he  was  by  so  much  dis- 
qualified to  exercise  social  authority  and  leadership, 
let  us  recall  the  fact  that  the  exact  opposite  is  the 
truth.  We  may  well  question  any  man's  authority 
or  leadership  in  social  matters  if  he  has  blotted  out 
of  his  nature  his  capacity  for  religion  and  its  up- 
lifting inspiration.  A  man  who  neglects  divine 
worship,  who  holds  aloof  from  church  and  religious 
agencies  presents  in  that  very  fact  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  he  is  unfitted  for  social  leadership  of 
any  kind.  At  first,  this  position  may  not  be  ap- 
preciated or  understood,  but  as  sure  as  the  human 
constitution  is  what  it  is,  and  as  sure  as  the  religion 
of  Christ  is  what  it  is,  so  sure  is  it  that  any  man 
Vv^ho  will  presume  to  leadership  and  social  reform  is 
handicapped  by  his  lack  of  religious  intuitions  and 
experiences.  There  has  been  altogether  too  much 
loose  and  rabid  talk  about  the  Christian  religion 
liaving  no  place  or  function  with  hard-headed  busi- 
ness and  industrial  leaders.  There  does  not  exist 
on  this  earth  any  line  or  class  of  men  or  any  human 
activity  or  function  which  does  not  call  for  the  high- 
est religious  endowments  of  which  any  man  is 
capable  and  which  Almighty  God  can  bestow.  Let 
us  have  respect  to  the  law  of  proportion  and  correct 
emphasis. 

Christ  and  the  prophets  were  moved  by  a  common 
social    intention    and    purpose.       Their   sniieres    of 


Christ  Competent  in  Social  Problems  81 

influence  were  dififerent,  but  the  continuity  of  in- 
tention is  clearly  discernible.  A  study  of  prophet- 
ical intention  will  confirm  this  conclusion.  There 
is  great  force  in  this  fact. 

The  prophets  were  reformers  for  their  own  age. 
Christ  was  the  prophet  for  all  ages.  He  was  in- 
diflFerent  to  numbers,  so  far  as  his  immediate  follow- 
ing was  concerned,  for  he  rested  well  assured  on  the 
final  realization  of  his  mission  and  the  supremacy 
of  his  principles. 

His  viewpoint  of  the  world  gave  him  unfailing 
courage  and  inspired  him  with  a  glorious  hopeful- 
ness. He  was  never  in  despair.  His  was  the  com- 
prehensive and  all-inclusive  view  of  all  things. 
Hope  was  never  banished  from  his  heart,  and  at  no 
time  did  he  have  any  other  idea  but  of  the  final 
triumph  of  his  kingdom. 

Our  Lord  exalted  individual  integrity  and  func- 
tion. The  Father  had  sent  him,  an  individual.  He 
would  send  each  disciple,  an  individual.  He  gave 
to  individuals  that  individuals  might  give  to  others. 

His  way  of  approach  to  the  social  problems  of 
men  was  not  by  external  organization.  He  did  not 
even  direct  his  teachings  to  the  wholesale  conver- 
sion of  the  multitudes  about  him.  This  one-bv-one 
consideration  of  man  as  the  unity  of  all  social  in- 
terest, responsibility,  and  progress  is  worthy  of  note. 
It  is  a  convincing  recognition  of  the  merit  of 
democracy. 

So  little  concern  did  he  show  for  organization  that 
when  he  ascended  to  heaven  there  was  at  first  a 


82  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 


feeling  of  confusion  because  of  the  lack  of  it.  The 
disciples  were  so  filled  with  the  idea  that  organiza- 
tion was  the  first  requisite,  yea,  the  only  one,  that 
they  inquired  of  him  when  he  spoke  of  the  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  to  whether,  after  all,  he  did 
not  mean  that  the  Pentecost  would  bring  the 
restoration  of  the  political  and  organic  Hebrew 
nation.  Their  minds  were  on  an  organization. 
His  mind  was  on  a  mighty  spiritual  quality  and 
superhuman  endowment.  They  said  with  despair, 
"We  had  hoped  that  it  was  he  who  should  restore 
Israel."  He  would  fix  their  minds  upon  a  power- 
quality  which,  if  possessed  by  individuals,  would 
revolutionize  and  vitalize  the  whole  world.  Evi- 
dently he  reckoned,  as  well  he  might,  on  a  contin- 
uous capacity  to  deal  with  form  and  organization. 
That  capacity  has  never  been  lacking  in  men. 
Rightfully,  they  reserved  their  freedom  at  this  point 
and  reckoned  that  each  generation  would  have  wisdom 
touching  this  matter  requisite  for  its  day. 

At  this  moment  our  Lord's  first  emphasis  is  not 
on  organization,  but  on  inspiration.  He  makes  it 
plain  that  the  highest  social  order  can  never  come 
save  by  the  individual  inspiration  of  personality. 

Christ  approaches  human  life  and  all  its  problems 
from  within.  We  rush  immediately  to  external 
measures.  We  are  prone  to  depend  upon  legal 
enactments.  We  have  recourse  to  contracts,  stipu- 
lation, carefully-worded  treaties.  He  would  throw 
into  the  heart  of  the  race  the  all-determining  spirit- 
ual   quality,    temper,    mind,    and    disposition    that 


Christ  Competent  in  Social  Problems  8v3 

would  make  possible  the  vmiform  exercise  of  right- 
eousness, equality,  and  justice  everywhere  and  all 
around.  Oh,  the  infinite  wisdom  of  such  a  provision 
and  power  in  human  affairs ! 

He  not  only  stands  for  social  wisdom  and  justice, 
but  he  stands  for  social  power.  It  is  at  this  last 
point  where  our  current  ominous  failures  have 
origin.  Corporations  are  organized  and  operated 
without  sufficient  social  power,  which  is  after  all 
the  power  of  correct  social  ideals,  the  guarantee  of 
justice,  consideration,  and  fair  treatment  to  em- 
ployees and  employers.  Lack  of  this  power  brings 
on  a  strike  with  attendant  waste,  bitterness,  and 
strife.  A\'hat  we  need  everywhere  and  along  all 
lines  of  dispute  and  in  all  social  alignments  is  the 
social  power  that  will  hold  men  to  considerations  of 
justice,  mercy,  and  of  the  common  good.  "Power" 
is  the  great  word.  Power  to  repress  our  selfishness. 
Power  to  control  our  covetousness.  Power  to  sub- 
due our  passions.  Power  to  enable  the  all-round 
visions.  Power  to  discern  spiritual  values.  Power 
to  hold  in  exact  and  due  estimate  material  good  and 
success.  Power  that  delivers  from  exaggerations 
and  unbridled  quests  after  gold  and  gain.  Power 
that  smooths  our  asperities  and  restrains  our 
excesses. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  ONCOMING  SOCIAL 
ORDER. 

XIV. 

"The    whole    creation    waiteth    for 
The  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God." 

So,  THEN,  sons  of  God  on  the  earth  are  the  impera- 
tive need.  The  earth  has  often  wanted  to  kill  them. 
There  have  not  been  found  wanting"  men  who  hated 
them  with  cruel  hatred.  What  a  parody  and  what  a 
paradox !  What  the  wdiole  creation  is  unconsciously 
waiting-  for,  it  also  wants  to  kill  and  get  out  of  the 
way.  The  social  order  that  ought  to  come  on,  and 
which  we  ought  to  help  bring  on,  is  the  social  order 
that  can  come  only  through  the  fact  of  the  sons  of  men 
becoming  the  sons  of  God.  Oh,  for  a  thousand 
tongues  to  publish  it ;  for  a  voice  like  Niagara  to  thun- 
der it;  and  for  an  eloquence  like  Beecher  to  tell  it 
out!      Weary  old  w^orld,  hear!  hear!  hear! 

The  ideal  social  order  for  which  man  is  waiting, 
and  which  he  unconsciously  or  consciously  craves, 
must  be  the  product,  not  of  artificial  or  mechanical 
power,  but  of  certain  spiritual  qualities  and  tempers 
of  the  mind.  Personality  expresses  itself  in  the  social 
order,  no  matter  what  the  temper  of  that  personality 
may  be.  If  it  is  suffused  with  hate;  if  it  mocks  good- 
ness by  its  sin;  if  it  is  atrocious  and  vulgar  in  its  love 
of  gain;  if  it  is  tyrannical  and  autocratic  in  its  control, 


Christ  and  the  Oncoming  Social  Order  85 

it  reproduces  itself  in  the  social  order  to  which  it  may 
be  related.  \\'e  ought  to  dig  into  this  truth  with  such 
thoroughness  as  that  it  might  fill  us  to  the  full.  Per- 
sonality, just,  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  God,  gov- 
erned by  moderation  in  all  its  desires,  merciful  and- 
considerate  in  all  its  acts,  yet  vigorous  and  efficient  in- 
all  its  relations,  fulfills  itself  in  the  social  order.  Such; 
a  one  never  has  a  strike  in  his  factory;  never  spends- 
millions  of  money  for  the  sake  of  conquering  the  mobr 
never  enforces  an  order,  and  never  issues  one  that  is 
not  based  on  principles  of  equity  and  high-minded  con- 
sideration. 

Oh,  this  problem  of  self-realization,  and  the  tremen- 
dous cost  when  the  selfhood  is  distempered  from  lack 
of  grace !  A  man  may  hold  himself  aloof  from  Chris- 
tian experience,  but,  oh,  at  what  infinite  cost !  His 
self-revelation  is  of  the  most  destructive  and  ungra- 
cious type.  He  fails  of  realization  in  the  realm  of 
service,  and  lives  and  dies  the  victim  of  a  fatal  incom- 
pleteness. A  prodigal  son  once  said,  '*I  will  arise  and 
go  to  my  father."  That  is  exactly  what  every  son  of 
man  should  say  to  his  Heavenly  Father  to-day;  and 
when  he  goes,  he  should  remain. 

^^'e  need,  above  all  things,  to  be  conscious  of  our- 
selves in  relation  to  God  the  Father.  With  what 
strange  infatuation  and  blind  persistence  do  men  mar 
the  divine  likeness  on  their  own  hearts,  blast  the  mem- 
ories of  earth  ;  mar  the  marts  of  trade  and  the  seats  of 
commerce  by  unrestrained  and  unhallowed  selfish- 
ness ! 

There  is  no  antagonism  between  the  spiritual  life 
and  social  good.     Let  us  close  up  the  breach  that  is 


86  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

made  with  our  own  hands.  Christian  experience  and 
character  is  God's  method  in  social  salvation.  Social 
salvation  is  the  end  he  has  in  view.  Love  is  the  only 
efficient  motive  for  social,  political,  commercial,  or 
industrial  service.  Jesus  said,  'Tor  their  sakes  I 
sanctify  myself." 

Character,  then,  as  some  one  has  said,  "is  the 
supreme  method  of  social  service."  ''I  sanctify  my- 
self." Sanctification  of  character  is  a  universal  duty. 
A  prominent  writer  on  sociological  questions  has  sub- 
mitted the  following  summary  of  our  Lord's  social 
principles : 

"1.  View  from  above. 

"2.  Approach  from  within. 

"3.  Movement  toward  the  spiritual  objective. 

"4.  Wisdom  and  sagacity. 

''5.  Inspired  personality. 

"6.  IdeaHsm. 

"7.  Complete  social  horizon. 

''8.  Social  power. 

'"9.  Social  aim." 

i 

r'- 

We  observe  that  our  Lord  presented  the  kingdom  of 
God  as  his  great  social  ideal.  He  presented  it  as  an 
ideal  fit  for  the  nation  and  the  world.  He  presented 
it  as  the  present  and  future  potency.  He  presented  it 
as  a  free  gift,  and  also  as  an  achievement.  God's 
gracious  ministries  on  the  human  heart  are  the  one 
and  only  source  of  worthy  initiative.  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  to  reign  in  the  hearts  of  his  children  in  any 
given  generation.     Christ  has   in   view  the   fact  that 


Christ  and  the  Oncoming  Social  Order  87 

be}ond  the  radius  of  life  and  light  occupied  by  the 
children  of  God  is  rim  or  circle  within  which  the 
inherent  powers  of  the  kingdom  of  God  are  to  move 
to  universal  conquest.  It  is  in  this  realm  of  conquest 
that  the  sons  of  God  are  to  evidence  the  utility  of  their 
experience  and  prove  their  mettle  in  service.  What 
a  good  thing  it  is  that  good  and  godly  folk  have 
something  to  do  in  the  world  in  the  line  of  direct 
propaganda  and  influence. 

The  kingdom  of  God,  then,  is  on  the  earth.  Its  reign 
is  not,  as  yet,  universal ;  its  extension  is  the  duty  of 
every  enlightened  and  purified  mind.  Because  the 
kingdom  is  spiritual,  lying  in  the  tempers  and  aifec- 
tions  and  dispositions  of  men,  it  is  always  a  present 
reality ;  it  is  also  always  a  future  consummation.  Here 
is  the  incentive  to  efifort ;  here  is  the  call  to  heroism. 
\\^e  have  in  the  earth  a  society  of  heaven.  It  is  to 
undertake,  through  divine  help  and  cooperation,  the 
task  of  continuous  conquest.  Looking  down  through 
the  ages,  our  Lord  foresaw  the  movements  of  the 
children  of  men.  He  indicated  the  lines  along  which 
the  great  conquest  would  move,  and  the  lines  of  cleav- 
age on  which  men  would  divide.  The  issue  is  well 
defined,  the  forces  and  tendencies  are  accounted  for, 
and  the  triumph  is  fully  and  freely  predicted. 

When  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  pervade  the  whole 
social  order,  with  its  refinements,  its  heavenly  dispo- 
sitions, its  brotherly  kindnesses,  the  social  order  will 
be  glorious  indeed.  Life  is  in  the  seed ;  it  is  also  in 
the  tree.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  in  process  ;  it  is  to 
be  also  in  completion.  It  is  a  present  power;  it  will 
be  a  future  realization.     The  world  affords  an  unlim- 


88  The  Social  Alessage  of  Our  Lord 

ited  scope  for  its  expansion.  '  Captains  of  industry, 
merchant  princes,  pohtical  leaders,  financial  manipu- 
lators, and,  in  short,  all  men,  are  working  out  their 
destinies  and  determining  their  eternity  within  the 
range  and  scope  of  this  expansion.  How  glorious  to 
contribute  to  the  great  triumph  !  How  inglorious  to 
defeat  it  by  so  much  as  in  one  may  lie ! 

Christ  views  the  race  as  slowly  but  certainly  purified 
and  shaped  by  the  life  and  power  of  God.  In  the  pur- 
pose of  God,  in  the  mind  of  God,  in  the  faith  of  the 
godly,  the  kingdom  is  already  a  great  and  completed 
reality. 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY. 

XV. 

It  is  understood  that  the  would-be  ''social  democ- 
racy" that  is  advocated  in  various  quarters  at  the 
present  time  is  unfriendly  to  Christ  and  the  church. 
The  reason  assigned  is,  that  Christianity,  and  the 
church  as  its  exponent,  provides  a  religious  sanction 
for  the  existing  economic  status.  Of  course,  so  long 
as  that  misunderstanding  prevails,  the  attitude  in- 
dicated has  an  origin  in  plain  view. 

Radical  socialism  is  not  at  peace  with  spiritual 
ideals.  It  has  created  ideals  of  its  own,  and  they  share 
the  nature  and  antipathies  of  their  creator.  ]\Iodern 
socialism  originated  in  Germany,  where  a  so-called 
scientific  type  has  appealed  for  popular  favor.  ]^Iany 
of  its  principal  advocates  and  authors  have  been,  and 
are  Hebrews.  Their  natural  prejudice  against  Chris- 
tianity in  any  form  has  impregnated  all  their  views 
and  attitudes.  They  labor  under  a  fearful  misappre- 
hension as  to  the  relation  of  Christ  and  his  religion  to 
the  present  economic  conditions,  in  so  far  as  those 
conditions  are  to  fall  under  just  condemnation. 

Anything  like  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  mind 
of  Christ  and  the  gospel  that  emanates  from  him  will 
show  that  always  and  ever  the  spirit  of  Christ  has  been 
in  constant  and  protesting  conflict  with  every  unjust 
and  cruel  economic  condition.     It  must,  indeed,  be  a 


90  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

prejudiced  inquiry  which  will  attribute  to  any  active 
moral  agency  any  surviving  evil  against  which  it  is 
constitutionally  opposed. 

We  are  compelled  to  admit  that  certain  schools  of 
modern  socialistic  propaganda  are  not  only  indifferent 
to  religion,  but  openly  propose  to  be  a  substitute  for 
religion.  Their  antagonism  to  Christianity,  as  we  have 
indicated,  grows  out  of  misapprehension,  which,  in  all 
fairness,  should  be  cleared  up  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  Nothing  but  regrettable  loss  to  all  parties 
and  causes  concerned  can -result  from  anv  estrange- 
ment  between  the  church  and  all  sane  and  equitable 
social  reforms.  It  is  certainly  unfair  to  charge  Chris- 
tianity with  being  the  religion  of  private  property  and 
the  religion  of  the  upper  classes.  Any  candid  investi- 
gation will  disprove  the  first  affirmation,  and  history 
disproves  the  latter. 

Socialism  ought  not  be  presented  to  this  age  as  the 
alternative  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  these  false  views,  both  of  Christianity  and 
the  spirit  which  must  permeate,  and  the  motives  which 
must  underlie  all  desirable  economical  and  social  re- 
forms, would  logically  compel  ungracious  and  unhappy 
attitudes  toward  the  great  Friend  of  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  men.  This  misconception,  perforce, 
encourages  malicious  combinations  of  the  working 
classes  against  the  wealthy,  and  especially  the  wealthy 
religious.  On  the  face  of  things  only  can  existing 
prejudices  even  appear  justified  by  these  fatally  defec- 
tive views. 

Carried  to  its  logical  result,  this  misconception  and 
superficial  interpretation  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  reli- 


Christ  and  Social  Democracy  91 

gion  will  not  be  satisfied  merely  with  a  new  economic 
and  social  program.  It  will  rise  up  to  compete  with 
Christianity  for  popular  favor  and  support. 

When  we  have  gone  to  the  bottom  of  things,  it  will 
become  more  and  more  evident  that  the  present  social 
movement  itself,  in  so  far  as  it  cries  out  for  just  and 
deserved  betterment,  is  a  modern  expansion  and  ex- 
pression of  the  religion  of  our  Lord.  The  lines  are 
being  drawn  for  a  severe  conflict  between  anti-Chris- 
tian socialism  and  Christianity  itself.  The  outcome  is 
not  to  be  feared,  for  it  can  result  only  in  the  trium- 
phant vindication  of  the  Christian  religion  as  fully 
and  only  competent  to  deal  with  the  present  social 
questions.  The  message  of  righteousness  must  go 
forth,  and  Christianity  is  its  one  supreme  source.  We 
are  disposed  to  plead  for  a  great  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  the  church  with  all  reasonable  socialistic  propa- 
ganda. The  current  aliveness  of  social  reforms  should 
be  regarded  as  an  opportunity  for  the  church,  and 
should  be  improved. 

W^hat  is  the  prime  duty  of  religionists?  They  must 
give  themselves  afresh  to  observation  and  investiga- 
tion. The  Christian  motives  must  be  applied  to  the 
social  life.  The  principle  of  brotherhood,  mutual  help- 
fulness, and  cooperation  must  be  brought  into  a  studi- 
ous comparison  with  hardship  working  competition. 
Let  us  have  an  interpretation  of  the  entire  social  prob- 
lem in  the  terms  of  the  Christian  gospel  and  standard 
of  morals.  It  is  an  opportune  hour  for  the  church  to 
stand  in  the  breach  and  throw  out  the  hand  of  helpful- 
ness to  both  sides  in  the  present  conflict,  which  is 
growing  more  keen  every  hour. 


92  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

Let  us,  by  all  means,  renew  our  quest  for  the  causes 
jof.  our  social  problems.  We  must  fearlessly  discuss 
the  relation  of  these  problems  to  moral  and  personal 
life.  There  will  be  some  objection  to  this,  but  the 
demand  is  rational  and  philosophical.  The  social 
propaganda  may  not  simply  demand  that  certain  privi- 
leges shall  be  withdrawn.  We  may  not  know  how 
slight  may  need  to  be  the  changes  in  the  economic 
order  to  bring  us  peace,  until  we  have  been  frank  and 
candid  touching  the  questionable  moral  habits  on  the 
part  of  our  complaining  brothers.  Who  shall  say  how 
far  the  matter  of  domestic  integrity,  of  thrift,  econ- 
omy, education  as  to  morality,  and  the  living  and  vital 
experiences  of  religion  would  avail  in  solving  the 
problem  ? 

It  is  time  for  the  churches  and  ministers  to  think 
these  things  through ;  to  adopt  a  social  program ;  to 
stand  for  an  intelligent  social  propaganda.  Let  this 
be  done  without  fear  or  favor ;  let  it  be  done  because 
it  is  right ;  let  it  be  done  at  any  cost ;  let  it  be  done  in 
the  spirit  of  brotherly  love;  let  us  discover  and  apply 
the  Christian  doctrine  of  economics. 

The  current  social  movement  might  readily  become 
revolutionary.  This  will  be  the  case  unless  all  classes 
of  our  population  shall  be  attempered  and  dispositioned 
by  the  spirit  of  Christ.  The  working  classes  them- 
selves must  be  allowed  a  larger  direct  interest  in  the 
profits  and  products  of  the  factories. 

Christ  is  not  indifferent  to  the  secular  problems  of 
the  modern  world.  The  church  and  church  people 
must  not  be.  We  must  go  out  to  the  battle  for  the 
abolition  of  poverty  and  injustice.    This  social  service 


Christ  and  Social  Democracy.  93 

and  stand  for  political  morality  is  the  coming  test  of 
Christian  virility.  Our  Lord  was  keenly  alive  to  all 
that  passed  about  him  while  he  was  in  our  world  of 
human  relationship.  His  gospel  is  twofold.  It  pro- 
vides for  love  to  God  and  love  to  men.  Jesus  was 
certainly  the  Savior  of  the  toiling  poor. 

If  the  Christian  leadership  of  the  generation  will 
do  their  duty,  we  shall  be  able  to  substitute  a  well- 
wrought  Christian  socialism  for  an  agnostic  and  anti- 
Christian  socialism.  We  can  never  avoid  the  test 
which  is  to  come  to  us  all,  based  on  our  relation  to 
human  needs.  At  the  last  it  will  be,  inasmuch  as  ye 
did  it,  or  did  it  not  unto  these  the  least  of  mine.  The 
message  of  Tesus  Christ  is  to  the  religious  life  and  ex- 
perience, but  it  affects  the  external  order  and  world  in 
which  we  live.  The  very  quality  of  the  Christian 
religion  compels  the  attention  to  social  problems  and 
interests.  Every  message  of  our  Lord  evidences  this 
fact. 


CHRIST  AND  CURRENT  SOCIAL 
OPPORTUNITY. 

XVI. 

Our  Lord  was  an  optimist.  He  unwaveringly 
believed  in  certain  consummations  for  mankind  that 
were  most  glorious  to  anticipate  and  .foresee.  While 
his  experiences  during  the  period  of  his  incarnation 
must  have  put  to  the  test  his  holy  soul,  yet  he  never 
faltered  or  complained.  He  believed  so  implicitly  in 
his  own  mission  and  its  restorative  relation  to  human 
ill  that  he  looked  forward  with  confidence  to  a  final 
order  which  would  be  modeled  after  the  heavenly 
world. 

This  is  God's  world,  hence  social  optimism  is  justi- 
fied. God  has  never  forsaken  his  own  creation.  He 
never  will.  While  there  are  many  adverse  currents 
to  human  progress,  and  the  onlooker  sometimes  thinks 
that  the  streams  are  turning  backward,  a  more  careful 
investigation  of  the  cycles  of  human  history  will  prove 
altogether  reassuring.  No  one  element  is  more  needed 
in  the  present  crisis  and  transition  than  a  strong  and 
buoyant  hopefulness.  The  forces  of  righteousness  and 
good  order  must  keep  heart. 

Man  is  God's  instrument,  hence  his  dignity  and 
responsibility.  This  view  of  human  relationship  to 
Deity  is  at  once  stimulating  and  elevating.  Since  we 
are  designated   for  such  an  intimate  and  responsible 


Christ  and  Current  Social  Opportunity  95 

relationship  to  our  Father  in  heaven,  there  is  demand 
for  care  and  interest  in  the  problem  of  our  fitness. 
That  fitness  must  have  reference  to  our  relations  God- 
ward  and  to  our  relations  manward.  Once  again  we 
come  to  the  old  issue,  for  a  moment's  meditation  at 
this  point  indicates  the  vital  importance  of  character. 
The  glory  of  God  is  his  character.  His  throne  and 
sovereignty  are  built  thereon.  No  one  may  hold  a 
throne  who  is  not  a  king. 

Since  the  activities  of  personality  are  indicated,  and 
have  origin  in  character,  we  can  readily  determine  the 
kind  of  divine  activity  which  is  ever  being  exerted  in 
civilization.  When  we  have  determined  character,  we 
have  no  trouble  to  decide  what  that  character  would 
have  done.  Hence,  as  we  come  to  know  and  appre- 
ciate the  character  of  Christ,  the  path  is  at  once  open 
to  those  activities  which  we  are  sure  have  his  interest 
and  approval.  Since  man  is  to  be  the  instrument  of 
God,  his  own  quality,  temper,  and  disposition  have 
absorbing  interest.  It  is  here  we  find  the  imperative 
demand  for  a  noble  sensitiveness.  Who  can  view  the 
dignity  and  representative  nature  of  an  appointment  to 
such  function  as  this  without  asking  with  great  heart 
solicitude  what  tempers  and  disposition  the  All-Father 
would  have  us  possess?  what  sort  of  administrators 
over  the  affairs  of  others  he  would  have  us  be;  what 
sort  of  industrial  operations  and  usages  he  would  have 
us  sanction  and  enforce. 

Since  this  is  God's  world,  the  people  in  it  should 
be  his  people  and  they  should  make  it  their  chief  busi- 
ness to  establish  his  kingdom  of  love  and  righteous- 
ness.      Humanity  has  a  certain  quantity   of   energv; 


96  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 


i>' 


when  it  is  exhausted,  the  race  is  run.  We  have 
about  so  much  abihty  for  attention  and  achievement, 
and  when  that  is  exhausted  we  are  done.  It  is  evident 
that  there  ought  to  be  a  law  of  proportion  in  our 
bestowment  of  attention  and  energy.  We  give  time, 
talent,  and  vital  life  force  to  so  many  things  that  are 
not  worth  while.  It  would  elevate  our  civilization 
rapidly  if  the  people  would  but  move  over  to  God's 
view  of  what  is  most  important.  God's  view  of  what 
is  important  will  really  become  the  view  of  every  sane 
mind  and  every  purified  heart.  His  view  of  what  is 
important  has  been  so  thoroughly  tried  and  so  thor- 
oughly attested  as  correct  by  the  succeeding  verdicts 
of  the  generations  past,  as  to  constitute  a  valid  reason 
for  their  adoption. 

Our  optimism  to-day  needs  to  be  well  informed ; 
hence  the  current  efforts  in  the  study  of  social  prob- 
lems, in  the  collation  of  facts,  in  the  establishing  of 
reading  circles,  in  the  publication  of  literature,  ought 
to  be  commended.  Intelligence  upon  any  subject  can 
come  only  after  much  labor  and  thorough  investiga- 
tion. Committees,  commissions,  institutions,  organiza- 
tions of  every  sort  and  order  are  to  contribute  to  the 
efi'orts  of  general  information.  When  this  securing 
of  the  facts  has  been  completed  the  revelation  will  not 
be,  in  all  respects,  gratifying.  It  never  is.  A  thor- 
ough investigation  of  the  conditions  of  any  community 
will  always  reveal  more  of  want  and  need  than  had 
been  supposed.  Nevertheless,  investigation  is  the  only 
method  by  which  we  can  secure  intelligence,  and  the 
intelligence  is  necessary  to  right  action.  We  must 
have  anchorage  somewhere.     That  anchorage  needs  to 


Christ  and  Current  Social  Opportunity  97 

be  dictated  by  faith  in  God,  the  beneficence  of  his  pur- 
poses and  faith  in  man  as  promising  a  hopeful  sphere 
for  every  redemptive  force.  Our  optimism  and  hope 
must  be  unyielding.  If  not,  the  tests  placed  upon  it 
by  the  discovery  of  facts  will  utterly  discourage  us 
and  call  us  off  from  effort.  We  must  stay  on  the  field 
of  battle  until  the  battle  is  over  and  the  triumph 
secured. 

The  present  is  a  period  of  unprecedented  social 
opportunity.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  human  person- 
ality fulfilling  the  will  and  law  of  God  in  social  service 
in  the  inspiration  and  power  of  the  divine  Spirit.  A 
careful  study  and  analysis  of  our  population  anywhere 
will  reveal  the  fact  that  no  community  is  without  at 
least  a  small  circle  of  individuals  who  are  broad- 
minded,  pure-hearted,  exalted  in  motive,  and  given  to 
public  good.  These  are  the  bases  of  hope  as  to  all 
reform  and  social  advancement.  Every  community 
also  has  an  element  that  is  neutral  and  indifferent ; 
neutral  as  to  religious  and  church  obligation;  indif- 
ferent as  to  reform  and  the  prevalence  of  good  prin- 
ciples. This  last-named  element  in  any  community 
becomes  a  menace  to  its  advancement.  They  must  be 
taken  up  for  consideration,  and  regarded  as  the  legiti- 
mate field  for  higher  propaganda  and  the  persuasions 
of  love.  Here  is  where  the  better  elements  of  society 
find  their  field  for  service  and  their  material  for  con- 
versions. While  these  conditions  are  not  ideal,  they, 
nevertheless,  afford  strong  incentive  for  good  living, 
pure  character,  and  social  service. 

As  we  confront  the  serious  problems  of  our  social 
and    religious   life,   take    inventory   of    resources   and 


98  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

liabilities,  the  first  feeling  is  one'of  incapacity;  the  task 
set  -opposite  the  reform  elements  of  our  population 
appears  to  be  overwhelming.  We  dare  not,  however, 
permit  a  sense  of  incapacity  to  take  possession  of  our 
minds  and  paralyze  our  efforts.  The  fact  is,  that 
judged  from  any  inventory  that  can  be  made,  our 
resources  for  social  and  religious  advancement  are 
more  than  equal  to  our  liabilities.  It  may  be  observed 
that  they  are  not  all  in  command,  and  that  our  forces 
are  not  all  dedicated  to  the  service.  This  is  certainly 
true,  but  here  again  this  inside  duty  of  stirring  up, 
quickening,  surcharging  with  enthusiasm,  realigning, 
and  projecting  the  forces  of  righteousness  is  a  gracious 
opportunity  for  service  to  humanity.  This  inner  circle 
can  be  led  into  a  most  glorious  efficiency,  and  it  de- 
volves upon  the  leadership  of  our  social  and  religious 
organization  to  effect  this  gracious  change.  There  is 
a  call  of  exceeding  urgency  for  unselfish,  effective, 
persistent  social  and  religious  service,  which  is  enough 
to  inspire  the  dullest  heart. 


CHRIST  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICE. 
XVII. 

The  religion  of  Christ,  by  its  essential  spirit  and 
life,  dictates  and  inspires  a  social  service  under  the 
highest  motives  and  ideals.  There  are  certain  definite 
elements  in  an  efficient  social  service  that  need  to  be 
well  considered  and  well  understood.  Vagueness  at 
this  point  and  inferior  ideals  are  both  destructive.  A 
thorough  analysis  of  Christianity  and  social  needs  will 
indicate,  with  unmistakable  clearness,  a  few  essential 
elements  of  the  social  service  required. 

In  this  survey  there  appears  at  once  the  urgent 
demand  for  the  spirit  of  intense  and  constructive  right- 
eousness. Righteousness  should,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
be  intense;  but  it  is  not  always  so.  There  is  possible 
to  the  human  character  a  sort  of  supine,  spineless, 
noncombative  righteousness  v/hich,  though  good  as  far 
as  it  goes,  never  goes  far.  It  is  a  sort  of  harmless 
negation,  chiefly  significant  in  the  fact  that  it  refrains 
from  positive  evil.  The  present  social  opportunity  will 
not  be  met  save  as  we  secure  a  righteousness  of  in- 
tensity and  militant  aggressiveness.  Christ  is,  indeed, 
the  Prince  of  peace,  but  he  also  said  that  his  coming 
and  his  kingdom  would  put  a  sword  in  the  earth;  not 
the  military  sword,  not  the  sword  of  contending  hosts, 
but,  nevertheless,  a  veritable  sword,  the  sword  of  spir- 
itual righteousness.     Intensity  is  a  quality  of  exceed- 


100  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

ing  importance.  Thousands  of  church  people  fail 
from  lack  of  it.  Men  in  the  pulpit  give  ill  account 
of  their  opportunities,  their  ministries,  because  they 
have  it  not.  If  Saint  Peter  were  writing  his  epistle 
to-day,  he  would  use  the  word  again  and  again. 

Constructive  righteousness  is  an  element  of  present- 
day  social  service  and  religion  that  needs  to  come  to 
the  fore.  It  will  mean  a  battle,  but  battle  it  must  be, 
or  our  civilization  will  drift  into  breakers  and  become 
a  wreck  on  rocky  shores.  Constructive  righteousness 
is  the  province  of  religious  and  religiously-dictated 
social  service.  Secretary  John  Hay,  when  he  insisted 
on  the  principle  of  the  open  door  in  the  Far  East, 
acted  under  the  principle  and  passion  -of  constructive 
righteousness ;  but  for  his  far-seeing  diplomacy  and 
the  splendid  heroism  of  his  character,  Europe  would 
have  long  since  dismembered  China,  and  who  can 
imagine  what  would  have  been  the  conditions  of  the 
Orient.  It  is  always  easier  to  avoid  the  issue  which 
morality  and  righteousness  must  ever  create,  but  it  is 
cowardly  to  avoid  it.  Militant  goodness  is  the  good- 
ness especially  needed  at  this  time. 

Touching  many  evils  of  the  day,  manifest  in  business 
delinquencies,  commercial  dishonesties,  social  outrages, 
financial  exactions,  only  one  spirit  and  temper  of  mind 
IS  appropriate,  and  that  is  the  feeling  of  indignation. 
Indignation  under  certain  circumstances  is  highly  com- 
plimentary, and  its  absence  would  be  positive  evidence 
of  a  personality  lacking  force  and  character.  We  need 
tremendously  a  revival  that  will  enforce  moral  prin- 
ciples and  honest  practices  in  the  six-day  life  of  our 
civilization.     The  most  carefullv-worded  contracts  do 


Christ  and  Social  Service  101 

not  suffice  against  a  character  bankrupt  of  honor, 
honesty,  and  cardinal  virtue.  The  growing  indigna- 
tion of  our  country  against  the  use  of  official  position 
for  personal  gain,  against  the  dominance  of  the  liquor 
traffic  in  politics,  against  the  disposition  in  courts  of 
law  to  defend  criminals  by  technicalities,  against  pro- 
tracted and  unreasonable  delays  in  the  verdict  of  judge 
and  jury,  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  indications  of  the 
present  hour. 

Another  requisite  to  the  social  and  religious  service 
which  the  age  requires  is  the  growing  horizon — such 
an  outlook  upon  society,  religious  activity,  reformatory 
movements  as  will  make  one  broadly  intelligent  and 
truly  effective.  The  growing  horizon  will  inspire  our 
courage,  control  our  activities,  repress  our  hatreds, 
and  economize  and  unify  our  agencies.  Imperfect 
views  as  to  the  unity  of  religion,  the  unity  of  the  race, 
the  unity  of  social  interest,  as  to  the  real  value  and 
function  of  organization  and  as  to  the  fundamental 
spiritual  ministries,  occasion  great  weakness,  needless 
conflict,  and  irritation.  A  better  horizon  will  compel 
the  Christian  forces  to  accept  the  growing  tendency  to 
get  together  and  unify  administration  with  all  hearti- 
ness. 

Courage  to  do  and  dare  in  the  present  unparalleled 
social  opportunity  is  manifested  by  a  larger  number  of 
people  every  day.  Many  governors  within  the  last 
few  years  have  risen  absolutely  above  political  and 
selfish  consideration  and  stood  for  great  principles  of 
reform  and  righteousness  in  a  way  so  thoroughly 
refreshing  and  inspiring  as  to  occasion  thanksgiving 
to  Almighty  God.     Because  of  the  shifting  results  of 


102  The  Social  Messag^e  of  Our  Lord 


& 


political  preferment,  names  may. not  be  taken  up,  but 
they  are  in  current  thought,  and  the  galaxy  of  noble 
men  who  have  made  records  of  this  sort  are  worthy  of 
all  compliment,  honor,  and  praise.  Official  adminis- 
tration, in  freedom  from  corrupt  and  selfish  political 
dictation,  is  now  having  some  most  encouraging  illus- 
trations. It  is  a  prophecy  of  good  to  the  whole  land. 
The  influence  of  a  single  political  leader  who  is  great 
enough  and  splendid  enough  to  stand  for  the  right 
thing,  against  the  devotees  of  vice  and  selfishness, 
is  marvelous,  and  should  encourage  us  all  to  a  larger 
faith  in  the  fighting  efiiciency  of  goodness. 

However  much  the  reformer  may  be  decried  in  cer- 
tain prejudiced  quarters,  his  work  will  always  be 
important  and  in  demand.  We  cannot  conceive  of  a 
state  of  civilization  in  which  this  would  not  be  true. 
Such  a  state  would  mean  the  paralysis  of  goodness 
and  the  stagnation  of  progress.  Some  of  the  reformers 
stand  in  need  of  being  reformed,  which  is  to  say,  they 
need  to  get  a  viev/  of  sufficient  breadth  to  give  them 
the  relation  of  their  special  work  to  other  invaluable 
movements  for  social  betterment.  It  is  very  natural 
for  one  to  magnify  the  especial  movement  with  which 
he  may  be  connected,  hence  the  warning  for  modera- 
tion and  open-hearted  sympathy  toward  all  that  is 
good  and  constructive  is  in  place.  One  but  injures  his 
own  cause  when  he  decides,  under  any  delusion,  that 
the  only  way  to  build  up  his  own  cause  is  by  minifying 
some  other.  The  best  view  of  the  landscape  is  to  be 
had  from  the  hilltop.  All  reformers,  therefore,  need 
hilltoj)  experiences  and  hilltop  sympathies,  controlled 
and  dictated  by  breadth  of  horizon. 


Christ  and  Social  Service  103 

The  mount  on  which  the  world  holds  communion 
with  God  will  always  need  to  be  in  thought.  Our 
more  immediate  communions  are  with  nature  and  with 
one  another.  While  these  are  delightful,  interesting, 
and  sometimes  restful,  they,  nevertheless,  lack  a  cer- 
tain vital  quality  which  is  to  be  found  alone  in  com- 
munion with  the  Heavenly  Father.  Let  not  this  state- 
ment be  regarded  as  a  case  of  special  pleading,  for  it 
really  is  one  of  the  most  practical  and  helpful  facts 
for  every-day  living.  When  we  have  reached  the  real 
wisdom  for  human  living,  communion  with  God  will 
be  regarded  with  the  same  ready  consent  to  fitness  as 
light  for  vegetation  and  air  for  the  lungs. 

One  of  the  enemies  to  the  kind  of  social  and  reli- 
gious service  which  the  age  requires  is  political  and 
social  provincialism.  The  diplomacy  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth  to-day  has  growing  recognition  of  the  cos- 
mopolitan idea  and  claim.  It  is  a  mark  of  littleness 
for  one  to  segregate  himself  in  his  politics  or  religion 
from  the  profound  communion  which  flows  from  the 
unity  of  religion  and  the  unity  of  the  race.  We  must 
look  over  our  dividing  walls  into  adjacent  enclosures 
with  such  anxiety  for  openness  and  unobstructed  fel- 
lowship as  will  compel  the  advocate  of  isolation  and 
narrow  sympathy  to  forego  his  ill-advised  mission. 
The  ministry  of  breadth  and  catholicity  is  always  the 
ministry  of  progress. 

There  devolves  upon  thoughtful  people  at  this  time 
the  duty  of  defining  and  propagating  a  correct  social 
idealism.  This  must  not  be  left  to  men  of  coarse  and 
brutal  instincts,  not  to  special  interests.  It  must  be 
done  by  the  best-proportioned  and  best-endowed  life 


104  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

afforded  by  any  grade  or  strata  in  our  civilization. 
Whoever  shall  undertake  this  work  must  be  in  sym- 
pathy with  true  religion  and  in  sympathy  with  human- 
kind. This  task  is  difficult,  but  we  must  not  evade  it 
because  it  is  so.  So  much  is  at  stake,  and  delay  is 
dangerous.  The  church  of  Christ  must  take  first 
responsibility  here,  as  elsewhere. 

The  definition  of  a  correct  social  movement  will 
probably  deny  the  proposal  that  the  fundamental  prob- 
lem is  economic.  It  will  indicate  that  above  the  ques- 
tion of  wage  and  income  is  the  question  of  self-control, 
reasonable  economy,  approved  domesticity,  and  gen- 
eral integrity.  It  seems  unfortunate  that  in  connec- 
tion with  a  clamorous  demand  for  more  generous  com- 
pensation for  all  kinds  and  varieties  of  labor,  the 
matter  of  personal  character  and  religion  should  be 
relegated  to  subordinate  attention.  At  this  point  we 
must  be  absolutely  true  to  the  human  constitution  and 
the  claims  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  life.  Character 
above  dollars,  and  the  spiritual  above  the  material, 
must  be  the  dominant  truth.  The  atmosphere  is  murky 
with  the  philosophy  of  an  enslaving  materialism.  The 
electrical  currents  and  flashes  of  a  purif3ang  righteous- 
ness and  uplifting  spiritual  influence  alone  can  clear 
the  air. 

Christ  does  indeed  call  our  attention  to  the  other 
world.  From  the  other  world  he  came  forth,  and  to 
it,  in  the  body  of  his  incarnation,  he  returned.  Never- 
theless, he  announced  that  he  would  continue  his  influ- 
ence on  the  earth  through  the  gracious  influences  and 
ministries  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  So  that,  while  he  does 
fix  our  attention  on  the  life  to  come,  he  does  not  call 


Christ  and  Social  Service  105 

it  off  from  the  life  which  now  is.  He  only  insists  on 
balance,  proportion,  and  the  correct  emphasis.  He 
would  incite  us  with  desires  for  a  better  world,  but  he 
would  commission  us  with  the  high  and  holy  responsi- 
bility of  making  this  one  so  good  a  one  that  we  may 
decide  that  Zion  hath  descended  from  above.  Our 
Lord  is  the  stanchest  advocate  and  mightiest  potency 
for  the  better  world  here  and  now,  which  we  all  so 
much  desire. 


CHRIST   AND    CURRENT   SOCIAL 
PROPAGANDA. 

XVIII. 

On  the  whole,  the  modern  social  activity  is  to  be 
commended.  As  we  have  indicated,  it  is  hopeful 
rather  than  discouraging.  Some  positions,  how- 
ever, that  are  insisted  upon  in  the  present  social 
propaganda  reveal  weaknesses  which,  for  the  com- 
mon good,  should  be  noted  and  eliminated  as  nearly 
as  may  be.  Any  great  popular  movement  is  liable 
to  be  sadly  marred  by  lack  of  deliberateness,  or, 
in  other  words,  an  impulsiveness  which  is  always 
so  fatal  to  satisfactory  action.  Human  nature  is 
sometimes  so  agitated  that  its  action  comes  without 
due  consideration.  First  thought  is  sometimes 
good'  thought,  but  how  often  the  sober  second 
thought  conveys  the  message  of  superior  wisdom. 

Another  phase  in  the  present  social  propaganda 
is  its  tendency  to  shift  position,  to  be  fickle.  This 
grows  out  of  a  lack  of  thoroughness  and  well- 
grounded  conviction.  It  is  also  occasioned  by  the 
presence  of  any  appreciable  passion  or  ill  feeling. 
The  feelings  of  hatred  that  sometimes  rankle  in  the 
human  breast,  thank  God,  are  subject  to  reactionary 
influences  and  counter  calls,  but  whenever,  for  any 


Christ  and  Current  Social  Propaganda        107 

reason,  a  great  reform  takes  on  the  temper  of 
hatred   its   success   is   thereby   sadly   interfered   with. 

It  can  be  truthfully  said  that  many  persons  who 
are  interested  in  so-called  social  reform  are  so  ex- 
ceedingly narrow  in  sympathy  and  outlook  as  to 
destroy  their  usefulness.  An  incomplete  interest 
evidences  itself  in  isolation  from  everything  but  the 
petted  and  favorite  scheme  or  propaganda.  The 
ail-round  man  is,  of  course,  the  ideal  toward  which 
w^e  all  look  vs^ith  admiration.  A  man  who  can 
appreciate  the  other  side  of  a  proposition  to  the 
extent  that  he  will  be  fair  and  impartial  is  not  as 
generously  distributed  on  the  earth  as  one  could 
wish.  A  narrow  enthusiasm  is  an  unhappy  enthusi- 
asm in  its  influence  on  the  Avorld.  Even  enthusiasm 
for  Christianity  would  fall  under  this  criticism  were 
it  not  that  Christianity  is  so  comprehensive. 

Another  weakness  may  be  indicated  by  the  term 
"externalism."  The  tendency  to  magnify  organiza- 
tion, political  or  otherwise,  to  live  in  its  past 
achievements,  to  crystallize  its  ideals  by  the  exclu- 
sion of  new^  light,  clogs  the  wheels  of  progress. 
Whenever  an  organization  of  any  kind  becomes 
empty  of  present  vitalities  it  glorifies  a  few  individ- 
uals who  have  entered  into  its  history  favorably, 
but  who  never  would  have  left  their  mark  on  the 
organization  unless  they  had  met  the  hour  of  their 
obligation  and  service  w^ith  an  open  and  fearless 
mind.  No  organization  has  real  vitality  unless  it 
is  keenly  alive  to  the  issues  of  the  hour,  and  pro- 
poses, without  undue  regard  to  the  effect  upon  it- 


108  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

self,  to  do  the  right  and  the  noble  thing.  A 
deserved  criticism  on  some  of  the  great  political 
conventions  is  the  tendency  here  referred  to.  With 
the  public  clamoring  for  good  leadership,  as  to 
moral  issues,  advanced  legislation,  and  the  general 
good,  the  devotees  of  externalism  obstruct  the 
functions  of  organization,  and  so  far  as  they  may, 
forestall  advancement  which  ought  by  every  lawful 
consideration  to  be  made.  Political  majorities  are 
merely  so  much  social  machinery,  and  v/hen  they 
are  manipulated  and  operated  with  a  view  to  the 
spoils  and  not  with  a  view  to  righteous  principles, 
the  zest  and  flavor  falls  out  of  them.  The  great 
political  bodies  of  the  country,  when  they  have 
made  their  best  history,  have  been  possessed  of  a 
noble  enthusiasm  for  righteousness.  They  have 
moved  on  under  the  spell  and  inspiration  of  a  great 
cause  which  so  appealed  to  their  devotion  as  to  lift 
them  into  an  atmosphere  of  noble  action  and 
achievement. 

The  dominance  of  selfish  officialism  discourages 
individual  initiative.  Officialism  should  really  stand 
for  leadership ;  leadership  should  always  mean  momen- 
tum in  the  direction  of  the  best  things ;  officialism 
should  always  be  sensitive  to  the  voice  of  the  people. 
This  fact  is  recognized  in  the  provision  being  made  in 
many  of  our  city  charters  for  an  action  of  recall,  when 
a  public  official  fails  to  be  in  sympathy  with  sound 
public  sentiment  and  policy.  An  unscrupulous  or 
autocratic  officialism  is  a  parasite  on  social  order. 


Christ  and  Current  Social  Propaganda        109 

Another  current  weakness  of  social  propaganda  is 
evident  in  a  lack  of  emphasis  upon  character  qualities. 
Xot  enough  is  said  about  self-control  and  the  great 
profitableness  of  an  improved  individuality.  This 
would  mean,  to  be  sure,  the  enforcement  of  a  larger 
and  more  commanding  sense  of  responsibility  for  indi- 
vidual type.  There  ought  to  be  a  grip  at  this  point 
which  would  be  so  universally  at  work  as  to  reduce  to 
a  small  fraction,  indeed,  the  number  of  improvident, 
shiftless,  and  ill-charactered  men.  The  higher  stand- 
ards of  individual  life  must  be  held  up  to  view  until 
lack  of  conformity  will  make  one  notorious  and  lead 
to  shame. 

Religion  itself  is  always  in  danger  of  being  institu- 
tionalized, externalized,  and  drawn  away  from  its 
inherent  life.  Among  religionists  are  to  be  found 
those  who  think  more  of  their  particular  organization 
than  they  do  of  the  fundamental  spirit  of  Christianity, 
or  the  growing  demand  on  Christian  citizenship  for 
breadth  of  view  and  holiness  of  character.  This 
exaltation  of  the  external  is  the  deadly  foe  to  true 
piety.  Religion  is  always  greater  than  its  institutions. 
An  institution  is  the  product  of  an  idea  or  force ;  the 
force  or  idea  that  produces  the  institution  is  the  thing 
to  be  magnified. 

External  forms  and  methods,  we  fear,  have  had  an 
emphasis  out  of  proportion  to  their  ordained  place  and 
value.  That  which,  in  itself,  is  admirable  must  not, 
because  of  our  dullness  and  stupidity,  become  a  men- 
ace and  a  barrier.  When  once  the  passion  for  exter- 
nalism  has  marred  the  vision,  the  really  important 
things  are  under  eclipse.     True,  the  existing  external 


110  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

conditions  should  be  conducive  to  individual  develop- 
ment and  character.  If  they  are  not,  they  ought  to  be 
changed.  But  we  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  the  better  social  order  imperatively  calls  for  the 
better  man.  As  one  author  puts  it,  we  shall  never 
have  golden  conduct  in  life  if  we  permit  our  instincts 
to  be  leaden. 

Prosperity,  widely  heralded  when  it  exists,  deplored 
when  it  is  absent,  often  abused  when  it  is  present, 
sometimes  presages  both  political  and  moral  decline. 
This  ought  not  to  be  so,  but  it  will  be  so  unless  we  have 
a  propaganda  before  the  public  in  invariable  constancy, 
securing  the  public  attention.  Externalism  is  like  a 
ghastly  skeleton,  helpless,  repulsive,  useless  unless  life 
shall  come  into  it.  Canals  are  good  if  they  be  full  of 
water.  When  their  channels  are  dry,  the  trees  perish 
and  the  landscape  loses  its  beauty,  and  commerce 
languishes. 

No  matter  how  perfect  our  social  machinery  may 
be,  it  is  helpless  without  high-charactered  men  to  apply 
it.  We  have  talked  about  the  man  behind  the  gun, 
and  there  is  reason  for  the  talk.  Much  of  the  social 
maladjustment  is  to  be  traced  directly  to  the  blame- 
worthy faults  of  men;  defects  that  need  not,  and 
ought  not  exist.  Our  criminal  classes,  blameworthy 
though  they  be,  are  often  made  all  the  worse  by  the 
fact  that  the  men  who  take  charge  of  them  are  lacking 
in  Christian  character  and  the  qualities  which  men 
must  possess  if  they  are  to  be  helpful  and  just  in  their 
administrative  functions  and  duties. 

Another  defect  in  current  social  activity  is  the  dis- 
position to  withhold  any  reference  of  social  wrongs 


Christ  and  Current  Social  Propaganda         111 

or  inequalities  to  a  personal  cause.  It  is  so  much 
easier  to  berate  the  impersonal  state  or  social  order; 
to  -call  down  imprecations  upon  it,  and  omit  entirely 
any  reference  to  the  matter  of  character  or  individual 
integrity.  Too  much  can  scarcely  be  said  at  this  point, 
and  whenever  the  friends  of  social  reform  lose  sight 
of  this  phase  of  the  question  they  make  a  mistake  for 
which  their  cause  must  suffer.  The  individual  man, 
his  traits  of  character,  his  habits  of  life,  are  factors 
to  which  constant  reference  must  be  made  if  our 
civilization  is  to  advance  to  the  higher  excellencies. 
Reference  to  the  personal  causes  of  social  unhappiness, 
poverty  and  the  like,  may  be  characterized  as  preach- 
ing, and  spurned  for  lack  of  wisdom.  Nevertheless, 
we  shall  be  driven  back  upon  the  threadbare  issue,  if 
threadbare  it  shall  be  called,  and  compelled  to  reiterate 
the  claim  of  God  and  man  for  personal  integrity. 


CHRIST'S  KINGDOM  THE  ULTIMATE 
SOCIAL  ORDER. 

XIX. 

When  we  seek  the  ideal  in  civilization  and  social 
order,  we  find  it  in  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Christianity-  provides  for  balance,  dis- 
crijnination,  poise,  proportion,  and  requisite  detach- 
ment in  human  life.  It  provides  for  practical  and 
patient  activity,  for  inclusive  and  wise  activity.  Its 
proposition  that  every  human  shall  come  into  com- 
munion with  God  as  the  daily  habit  of  his  life,  stands 
between  us  and  exhausting  weariness  and  social 
despair.  Here  is  tonic  and  bread  for  the  disquieted 
heart.  Christianity  can  even  maintain  courage  under 
meager  immediate  results. 

Furthermore,  the  kingdom  of  God  creates  a  type  of 
personality  at  once  unique  and  noteworthy ;  a  type 
which  the  more  it  is  studied  will  glorify  and  vindicate 
the  message  of  the  kingdom  of  God  as  to  human  char- 
acter. The  real  test  of  character  is  its  ability  to  rise 
above  and  modify  environment.  All  great  characters 
have  triumphed  at  this  point.  Every  one  may  triumph 
here  if  he  will.  Much  is  said  in  these  days  about 
environment,  and  some  people  go  so  far  as  to  claim 
it  is  the  all-determining  and  final  element.  But  what 
a  hopeless  world  this  would  be  if  that  were  true. 
Many  a  boy  has  been  environed  by  poverty,  but  he 


Christ's  Kingdom  the  Ultimate  Social  Order    113 

rose  above  it.  Many  a  woman  has  struggled  with 
unhappy  surroundings  and  glorified  her  mission.  Per- 
haps^ the  most  vital  statement  that  can  be  made  about 
the  Christian  character  is  the  one  under  discussion. 
Christianity  refuses  to  concede  that  environment  is 
greater  than  personality.  It  works  on  the  exact  oppo- 
site of  this  proposition,  and  based  on  that  practical 
law  of  human  progress,  it  makes  appeal  for  our  inter- 
est, devotion,  and  support. 

It  has  been  observed  that  salvation  has  always  been 
by  saviors.  The  statement  cannot  be  successfully  con- 
tradicted. ''Saviors  have  always  been  by  sanctifica- 
tion."  That  is  to  say,  they  have  saved  others  by  losing 
themselves ;  which  is  to  say,  again,  that  they  were 
saviors  under  the  law  of  devotement ;  which  is  to  say, 
again,  that  they  have  saved  by  vicarious  sacrifice.  The 
saviors  of  the  world  have  always  had  reference  to 
both  spiritual  and  temporal  salvation.  Christianity  is 
not  indifferent  to  environment.  It  insists  that  where 
external  conditions  are  not  as  they  might  be,  or  should 
be,  the  only  righteous  thing  is  to  change  them  for  the 
comfort,  happiness,  and  welfare  of  humanity.  Chris- 
tianity stands  for  a  beautiful  world,  for  a  clean  world, 
for  a  happy  world. 

The  first  concern  of  Christ  is  a  manhood  that  can 
conquer ;  a  manhood  that  has  ability  for  self-control ; 
a  manhood  fitted  to  deal  with  the  problems  of  each 
age ;  a  manhood  which,  while  sensitive  to  individual 
right,  understands  full  well  that  no  individual  right 
exists  which  constitutes  any  part  of  a  general  wrong. 
Our  Lord  was  once  met  with  the  suggestion  that  he 
turn  stones  into  bread.     This  he  refused  to  do,  not 


114  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

because  bread-making  was  a  bad  occupation,  but  be- 
cause self-control  and  the  law  of  spiritual  integrity 
was  far  above  even  so  good  a  commodity  as  bread. 
In  our  clamor  for  bountiful  material  good  and  its 
generous  distribution  to  all  men,  we  must  not  sacrifice 
God's  rightful  claim,  and  society's  rightful  claim  for 
uprightness  and  nobility  of  character.  Our  age  is  so 
materialistic  that  some  people  would  judge  all  spiritual 
agencies  by  the  test  of  bread-making.  The  exalted 
and  spiritual  ministries  of  the  church  and  religion  are 
belittled  in  comparison  with  those  agencies  that  deal 
with  the  supply  of  our  external  want. 

Christ  recognizes  needs  that  are  far  more  funda- 
mental than  bodily  hunger.  Yet  he  would  have  the 
world  clothed  and  fed.  He  pleads  for  the  satisfaction 
of  man's  complete  capacity.  Men  have  a  capacity  for 
bread  and  they  have  a  capacity  for  God.  They  have 
capacity  and  talent ;  they  may  also  have  inspiration  and 
spiritual  intuition.  The  world  moves  everywhere 
under  an  impelling  desire  for  an  agreeable  self-con- 
sciousness. No  self-consciousness  can  be  agreeable 
so  long  as  the  moral  nature  is  uncleansed  of  its  evil. 
Men  and  women  make  such  queer  and  unusual  quests ; 
yea,  illogical  quests  for  happiness.  They  are  ever 
seeking  for  living  waters  in  cisterns  and  springs  that 
have  long  since  run  dry.  They  wear  themselves  out  in 
futile  search  for  satisfaction  in  that  which  satisfies 
not. 

The  kingdom  of  God  must  be  the  ultimate  social 
order  because  it  provides  for  regenerated  and  high- 
powered  personality.  Let  no  one  stand  aghast  at  that 
word  "regenerated."     We  are  doomed  to  sure  disap- 


Christ's  Kingdom  the  Ultimate  Social  Order    115 

pointment  if  we  expect  social  relief  while  we  abrogate 
so  far  as  we  may  all  idea  of  personal  responsibility  for 
our  sin  and  unrighteousness.  Sin  is,  after  all,  a  matter 
of  human  control,  because  it  is  a  matter  of  divine 
control.  By  so  much  as  we  weaken  personal  responsi- 
bility we  forbid  social  progress.  We  must  gird  up  the 
loins  of  our  mind  and  be  strong. 

With  all  of  our  efiforts  for  the  annihilation  of  the 
liquor  traffic  in  legalized  form,  and  these  efforts  ought 
to  be  redoubled,  we  must,  nevertheless,  never  with- 
draw the  emphasis  on  the  individual  responsibility  for 
drunkenness.  The  major  responsibility  for  the  evils 
of  intemperance,  we  will  allow,  rests  with  the  manu- 
facturers and  retailers  of  intoxicants.  The  govern- 
ment that  gives  license  for  this  unspeakable  outrage  on 
humanity  also  bears  a  large  and  discrediting  respon- 
sibility. Yet  let  it  be  thundered  through  the  land,  th^ft 
the  man  who  voluntarily  walks  up  to  the  bar  and 
spends  money  which  ought  to  go  to  the  support  of  his 
family,  for  the  intoxicating  cup,  is,  himself,  culpable 
in  a  high  degree,  and  his  conduct  should  be  branded 
as  unworthy  of  any  man.  A  claim  made  for  the  saloon 
is,  that  it  supplies  a  real  need  in  the  present  social 
order.  Every  man  who  has  not  put  his  manhood  above 
the  control  and  patronage  of  the  American  saloon  is, 
by  so  much,  guilty  of  conduct  for  which  he  should 
blush  in  shame.  It  is  not  complimentary  to  any  com- 
munity that  it  has  so  many  devotees  of  the  blighting 
cup  that  nothing  else  will  do  but  a  great  seductive 
liquor  house  and  coarsening  resorts. 

We  shall  solve  the  problem  of  charity  largely  when 
we  develop  in  our  civilization  the  general  capacity  to 


116  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

live  without  it.  If  we  increase  the  power  of  good  liv- 
ing, we  shall  diminish  by  so  much  the  demand  for  the 
agencies  that  must  supplement  bad  living.  If  we  may 
engender  the  habit  of  thrift,  we  shall  forbid  the  blight 
of  poverty.  We  shall  be  rid  of  our  negations  when 
our  citizenship  is  builded  about  the  great  affirmatives. 
Positive  character-power  will  ever  be  in  demand.  Cen- 
tral in  all  social  adjustments  is  the  factor  of  redeemed 
character.  A  large  percentage  of  human  suffering  is 
chargeable  to  the  prevailing  social  order,  but  even 
more  is  to  be  attributed  to  human  sinning. 

A  good  many  things  have  been  said  in  criticism  of 
the  prodigal  son,  but  one  thing  should  be  said  to  his 
credit :  He  made  no  accusation  against  the  existing 
social  order.  He  made  no  reference  to  a  bad  father 
and  ungracious  mother,  jealous  brothers  and  sisters, 
or  unkind  neighbors.  He  manfully  declared  that  he, 
himself,  was  a  sinner.  In  so  many  words  he  declared, 
''I  have  sinned."  When  he  returned  to  the  father  he 
had  a  just  estimate  of  the  good  things  which,  after 
all,  he  had  marred  by  his  own  defects  and  wanderings. 
He  recognized  that  the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  home 
life  to  which  he  had  been  a  party  was,  in  its  nature, 
kind  and  beneficent.  It  was  much  better  than  his 
conduct  had  been. 

The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  the  adequate  source  of 
capacity  for  social  service.  Such  service  calls  for  the 
sovereign  life  which  flows  from  Christ,  the  King. 
Here  is  provision  for  devotion  in  spiritual  ideals  that 
will  make  human  life  fruitful  and  efficient;  the  inner 
ministries  of  the  kingdom  of  God  make  the  man ;  the 
service  of  the  man  extends  the  kingdoni.     The  temper 


Christ's  Kingdom  the  Uhimate  Social  Order    117 

and  spirit  of  the  kingdom  creates  social  righteousness. 
No  individual  has  discovered  himself  until  he  has 
discovered  an  objective  to  which,  with  all  heartiness, 
he  can  devote  himself.  This  objective  is  found  in 
Christ.  Wisdom,  vision,  and  power  are  given  to  one 
as  he  gives  himself  to  the  kingdom.  We  are  in  a 
battle  for  ideals  in  this  country.  This  is  more  impor- 
tant than  the  fight  for  bread.  The  lack  of  a  spiritual 
ideal  is  the  greatest  curse  of  the  modern  world.  We 
cannot  suffer  an  unspiritual  objective  to  take  the  place 
of  a  correct  spiritual  idealism.  To  do  so  would  be  to 
increase  the  present  social  peril. 


CHRIST'S  KINGDOM  FUNDAMENTAL. 

XX. 

In  considering  the  place  of  the  kingdom  in  history, 
we  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  its  coming  and 
character  were  the  burden  of  prophecy.  No  prophet 
arose  among  the  Hebrew  people  who  did  not  speak 
forth  a  great  message  to  the  heart  of  the  nation  touch- 
ing this  central  fact  in  their  history  and  hope.  The 
initial  potencies  of  the  kingdom  were  even  then  at 
work,  but  its  fuller  and  final  glories  could  only  be  fore- 
told, and  an  appeal  made  to  faith,  service,  and  patience. 

The  kingdom  stood  for  great  ideas  of  God,  of  right- 
eousness, of  individual  and  national  character.  These 
ideas  the  world  has  never  outgrown,  but,  on  "the  con- 
trary, they  have  called  into  being  individual,  social, 
and  political  ideals  that  the  race  has  never  actualized, 
much  to  its  own  detriment  and  hurt.  These  ideals 
will  continue  to  stand  in  advance  of  the  most  noble 
development  and  achievement  in  the  history  of  human 
progress  and  invite  forward  the  hosts  of  coming  gen- 
erations. The  kingdom  standards  will  always  be  at 
the  front. 

The  kingdom  meant  then,  and  means  now  a  new 
era  for  mankind.  The  great  prophets  and  poets  have 
always  sung  of  a  golden  age  yet  to  come,  and  the  song 
has  hushed  the  notes  of  despair.  This  song  has  given 
the  clarion  calls  of  reform  and  stilled  into  patience  the 


Christ's  Kino^dom  Fundamental  119 


'& 


unduly  agitated  passions  of  men.  The  race  is  aging 
under  the  passing  centuries  and  is  often  weary  for 
waiting,  but  this  song  brings  buoyancy  and  hope.  It 
brings  into  the  heart  of  the  race  a  perpetual  youth- 
fulness.  In  all  the  past  the  kingdom  has  upheld  the 
courage  of  godly  men  and  women.  This  has  meant 
more  than  we  can  realize  for  the  advance  of  righteous- 
ness in  the  earth.  Whenever  good  men  lose  courage, 
evil  triumphs  and  righteousness  languishes.  Courage 
must  have  root  and  stronghold  somewhere.  The  cour- 
age of  the  kingdom  is  moral  courage,  and  that  is  the 
most  difficult  courage  for  man.  Animal  or  brute  cour- 
age is  as  nothing  compared  to  it.  The  prophetical 
announcements  of  the  kingdom,  together  with  its  cur- 
rent potencies,  have  always  inspired  the  hearts  of  men 
to  do  and  dare  and  sufiter  for  righteousness. 

The  messages  of  the  kingdom  have  always  been  in 
preparation  for  the  elevation  of  the  race.  Stage  by 
stage  its  forces  have  moved  men  upward  and  God- 
ward.  From  valley  to  upland,  from  upland  to  plateau, 
and  from  plateau  to  mountain  top,  it  has  caused  man 
to  pitch  his  tent  in  the  scheme  of  constant  progress. 
Where  the  air  once  seemed  rare  and  exhausting  man 
has  come  to  be  at  home  by  continued  residence  and 
acclimatization.  The  moral  heart  of  man  has  been 
fitted  to  the  ascent  of  spiritual  life,  and  the  "higher 
ground''  is  not  so  sparsely  settled  as  it  was  in  the  long 
ago.  The  moral  and  spiritual  preparations  for  the 
lifting  up  of  the  race  are  constantly  being  made  by 
the  manifold  ministries  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

The  Jews  fearfully  and  fatally  misapprehended  the 
nature  and  scope  of  the  kingdom.     They  looked  for  it 


120  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

in  externals,  in  worldly  splendor,  racial  and  political 
supremacy,  immediately  beneficial  to  themselves. 
When  Christ  talked  to  the  disciples  about  the  Pente- 
cost, they  asked  if  it  involved  the  restoration  of  Israel 
as  an  organization.  There  is  well-grounded  reason 
for  concluding  that  there  are  people  in  our  lists  of 
church  communicants  who  make  a  kindred  mistake 
to-day.  They  are  the  devotees  of  their  particular 
ecclesiastical  organization  and  are  over-zealous  for 
certain  phases  of  sectarian  propaganda  which  are 
wholly  unimportant  as  compared  to  the  fundamentals 
of  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom.  They  are  missing  the 
vital  experiences  of  our  Lord's  spiritual  reign  in  the 
individual  through  the  ministry  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

John  the  Baptist  had  a  particular  and  unique  relation 
to  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord.  For  four  hundred  years 
the  Hebrew  nation  had  heard  no  prophetic  voice,  for 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  had  apparently  perished  from 
the  Hebrew  heart.  Just  a  little  while  before  the  begin- 
ning of  our  Lord's  public  ministry,  John  the  Baptist 
appeared  on  the  scene,  with  all  the  fervor  and  power 
of  a  Hebrew  prophet,  but  he  immediately  indicated  his 
intimate  and  peculiar  relation  to  the  Messiah,  whose 
forerunner  he  proposed  to  be.  He  was  the  connecting 
link  between  the  Judaism  about  to  pass  and  the  Christ 
evangel  about  to  burst  on  the  world. 

Let  us  consider,  in  more  immediate  connection, 
Christ  and  the  kingdom.  Christ  was  the  king  of  the 
kingdom  appearing  for  enthronement.  He  was  the 
king  indeed,  and  he  had  every  element  of  kingship. 
He  was  no  usurper  of  the  throne  he  came  to  occupy. 


Christ's  Kingdom  Fundamental  121 

Being  a  king,  he  could  only  rule  from  a  throne,  and 
the  kingdom  afforded  an  appropriate  throne.  His 
reign  was  to  be  its  central  life  and  fact.  Blessed  were 
those  who  contributed  in  any  way  to  his  enthronement 
then,  and  thrice  blessed  are  they  who  contribute  to  his 
enthronement  to-day.  Our  Lord's  coming  as  king  of 
the  kingdom  was  in  exact  fulfillment,  in  word  and 
spirit,  of  prophecy.  It  is  altogether  convincing  to 
make  a  study  of  prophecy  and  see  how,  as  to  its  letter, 
Christ  fulfilled  it.  This  is  true  in  every  respect,  and 
our  readers  are  asked  to  make  this  study,  for  space 
will  not  permit  our  going  into  this  matter  of  detail. 
In  spirit,  prophecy  had  always  had  reference  to  two 
things  of  fundamental  importance,  repentance  and 
righteousness.  Repentance  because  evil  must  be  done 
away,  and  righteousness  because  it  must  underlie  the 
whole  social  fabric.  Life  freed  from  sin  and  invested 
with  righteousness  was  the  spirit  and  heart  of  proph- 
ecy. Christ  came  in  immediate  promotion  of  this 
spiritual  realization.  He  came  to  fill  life  to  the  full 
with  the  power  to  lay  aside  sin  and  take  on  righteous- 
ness. To  this  glorious  end  he  was  Heaven's  full  power 
container. 

Christ  came  as  the  embodiment  of  the  kingdom's 
vitalities  and  potencies.  He  embodied  its  highest  doc- 
trines and  life.  The  kingdom  had  held  out  the  hope 
of  victory  over  sin,  and  Christ  embodied  the  divine 
provision  for  the  realization  of  that  hope.  The  king- 
dom had  proposed  that  men  should  walk  in  daily  com- 
munion with  God,  and  Christ  embodied  the  power 
called  for  under  the  proposition.  He  came  to  remove 
the  barriers  to  this  communion,  and.  beyond  all  ques- 


122  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

tion,  he  administers  to  human  need  in  this  respect  to 
this  day. 

Christ  made  the  kingdom  the  central  message  of  his 
earthly  ministry.  The  word  occurs  again  and  again  in 
the  records  that  have  come  down  to  us,  evidently  be- 
cause the  idea  was  uppermost  in  his  thought.  His 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  has  been  well  named  "the  con- 
stitution of  the  kingdom."  He  characterized  his  own 
preaching  by  declaring  that  its  chiefest  message  was 
the  message  of  this  mighty  spiritual  and  social  potency. 
There  is  more  than  a  hint  here  to  the  ministry  of  the 
present  day.  The  burden  of  the  Master's  sermons 
may  well  be  the  burden  of  ours. 

Christ  set  forth  the  fact  that  membership  in  the 
kingdom  was  an  infinite  privilege  because  it  brought 
one  in  touch  with  the  infinite  power.  Estimated  by 
any  sort  of  sane  reasoning  and  sound  logic,  this  mem- 
bership should  be  accorded  first  place  in  all  human 
thinking.  The  touch  of  the  kingdom  is  the  power 
touch  on  the  character  of  man.  Other  privileges  rank 
high,  but  this  one  outshines  them  all.  Christ  installed 
the  inexhaustible  kingdom  vitalities.  He  loosed  them 
and  let  them  go.  They  have  been  tested  by  all  the 
generations  of  men,  and  have  not  been  found  wanting. 
A  numberless  host  of  men  and  women  and  children  in 
each  generation  have  received  their  uplifting  minis- 
tries and  have  been  happy  in  singing  their  triumphs. 
The  oncoming  tides  of  evil  have  felt  the  restraints  of 
these  vitalities  and  have  accepted  control  and  limita- 
tion. These  vitalities  have  cheered  the  tempted  and 
comforted  the  sorrowing;  have  brought  a  high  degree 


Christ's  Kinedom  Fundamental  123 


't) 


of  moral  heroism  into  the  trying  scenes  of  earthly 
service  and  achievement. 

Christ  gave  commission  for  the  world  conquest  of 
the  kingdom.  The  apostles  indicated  the  processes  by 
which  this  would  be  brought  about.  Beginning  in 
Jerusalem,  it  was  to  reach  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth.  No  clime,  condition,  or  boundary  was  to  be 
allowed  to  place  a  limit  to  its  redemptive  messages  and 
helpful  ministries.  No  nation,  people,  or  tongue  but 
was  to  feel  the  persuasions  and  encouragements  of  the 
joyous  evangel.  ''Through  the  church  to  all  the  world," 
the  divine  order.  Christ  indicated  the  universal  hos- 
pitality of  the  kingdom — ''Whosoever  will  may  come." 
Nothing  like  this  in  all  the  range  of  human  thinking. 
Since  this  glad  note  has  passed  out  upon  the  air  the 
most  blamevv'Orthy  and  culpable  thing  in  any  man  is 
his  failure  to  come.  He  is  not  most  of  all  condemned 
for  being  a  sinner,  but  for  his  failing  to  accept  the 
Savior.  We  Anglo-Saxons  have  so  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  this  note  of  most  gracious  v/elcome  that  it 
has  become  commonplace  and  meaningless  through  its 
very  familiarity.  Most  Americans  are  the  children  of 
European  ancestors,  and  we  have  had  the  gracious 
message  of  hospitality  for  many  generations.  Let  us 
train  our  hearts  to  a  new  tenderness  lest  this  sweet 
note  of  invitation  come  up  at  the  last  for  our  con- 
demnation. 

If  we  shall  note  the  nature  and  power  of  the  king- 
dom, we  shall  readily  see  how  fundamental  it  must 
always  be  to  a  satisfying  social  order.  It  is  the  king- 
dom of  the  interior  life.  In  the  language  of  Holy 
Writ,  "It  is  within  you."    It  is  established  in  the  affec- 


124  The  Social  Messa2:e  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


tional  life  and  registers  in  the  outer  activities.  It  exists 
in  the  tempers  and  dispositions  of  the  mind,  in  the 
sweetness  and  love  of  the  soul. 

It  provides  designated  character  as  the  source  of 
happiness  and  blessedness.  The  world  is  always  say- 
ing the  rich,  the  famous,  the  powerful  are  blessed.  It 
is  the  message  of  the  kingdom  that  the  pure  in  heart 
are  blessed.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  locates  bless- 
edness, not  in  the  environment,  but  in  the  soul  quali- 
ties. Here  is  the  wisdom  of  life ;  here  is  the  philos- 
ophy that  is  Heaven-born.  The  blessed  character  is 
installed  and  supported  by  a  spiritual  experience  which 
our  Lord  refers  to  as  a  birth  from  above.  It  is  the 
second  begetting  by  the  gracious  Holy  Spirit,  and  gives 
us  our  citizenship  in  heaven. 

The  doctrine  of  the  kingdom  is  exalted  and  exalting, 
viewed  from  every  standpoint.  Like  the  river  which 
the  prophet  saw  in  vision,  everything  lives  wherever  it 
flows.  Its  doctrine  of  wage  and  capital  is  just,  equi- 
table, and  satisfactory.  But  we  dare  not  go  into  detail 
just  here.  Let  it  suffice  when  the  observation  is  made 
that  the  whole  body  of  doctrine  promulgated  by  the 
kingdom,  thoroughly  comprehensive  in  scope  as  it  is, 
will  continue  to  challenge  and  command  the  approval 
of  all  right-minded  people  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  kingdom  is  adequate  in  power,  for  it  compels 
to  applied  and  practical  morality.  Everywhere  and  all 
the  time  the  man  of  the  kingdom  must  of  inborn  neces- 
sity stand  for  practical  righteousness,  and  his  failure 
to  do  so  is  evidence  of  his  being  mistaken  as  to  his 
citizenship.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
The  power  of  the  kingdom  is  sure  to  get  into  contact 


Christ's  Kingdom  Fundamental  125 

for  the  sohition  of  every  problem  where  the  right  and 
the  wrong  are  in  issue.  It  stands  for  generic  right- 
eousness. Its  power  of  purification  is  marvelous  and 
dependable.     Its  deliverances  are  in  all  the  earth. 

The  kingdom  inaugurates  the  triumphant  reign  of 
God  in  the  soul.  The  Holy  Word  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
are  efficacious  through  the  atonement  of  our  Lord 
Christ.  The  Christian  life-power  is  a  triumphant 
power,  and  uniformly  seeks  a  full  individual  manifes- 
tation. It  is  feared  that  many  church  people  stop  short 
of  this  full  manifestation  of  the  kingdom  life-power. 
At  one  time,  while  traveling  in  Canada,  I  came  to  a 
stretch  of  land  growing  both  barley  and  mustard  in 
considerable  abundance.  It  was  not  easy  to  decide 
which  crop  was  in  the  purpose  of  the  owner.  The 
Christian  life  was  not  intended  to  be  a  medley.  It  is 
to  be  all  of  a  kind,  the  unit  life  of  righteousness. 

The  character  afiforded  to  kingdom  citizens  is  for 
life  demonstration  and  use.  \\'e  know  of  no  world 
where  this  type  of  character  is  so  certainly  needed  as 
in  this  present  world.  Persons  of  this  character  begin 
eternal  life  now,  for  they  are  now  the  sons  of  God. 
These  citizens  of  the  kingdom  are  in  heaven  now 
essentially  and  vitally.  This  type  of  character  is  of 
primal  importance,  for  its  relativity  is  all-determining 
in  all  values.  While  it  is  not  of  this  world,  it  is  for  the 
mastery  of  this  world. 

Christ's  kingdom  compels  the  battle-line  for  the  sov- 
ereignty of  great  and  holy  principles.  It  advances 
the  battle-line  as  rapidly  as  human  cooperation  makes 
it  possible.  It  establishes  the  skirmish  and  main  line 
for  all  reform.     Its  proposition  is  the  glorification  and 


126  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

sanctification  of  all  material  good.  It  unsheathes  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit  and  is  the  unrelenting  foe  of  all 
unrighteousness.  It  proposes  and  enforces  eternal 
war  on  the  monarchy  of  hell.  It  brooks  no  defeat  and 
never  sounds  the  order  for  retreat.  It  marshals  and 
projects  the  forces  of  constructive  righteousness.  Its 
victories  are  the  victories  of  humanity.  It  appeals  to 
our  heroism  and  complete  dedication.  It  is  forever 
the  hope  of  weakness  and  oppression.  It  makes 
supreme  the  passion  for  the  moral  elevation  of  the 
race  and  keeps  one's  nature  ever  sensitive  to  all  worthy 
appeal. 

Pity  the  men  and  women  who  are  not  of  the  king- 
dom, for  time  soon  fades  their  crown.  Their  sensual 
and  silly  lives  vanish  like  morning  mist  and  their 
names  perish  from  the  earth.  For  the  man  of  the 
kingdom  conquest  and  coronation  are  just  ahead. 


CHRIST  AND  AMERICAN  DUTY. 
XXL 

There  are  certain  duty  points  for  Americans  that 
need  to  be  emphasized  at  this  hour.  In  the  Hght  of 
the  message  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  have  a  pronounced 
duty  to  degenerate  humanity  within  our  borders. 
Wherever  the  law  of  degeneracy  is  allowed  to  exert 
its  destructive  power  a  great  interrogatory  must  be 
faced  manfully  and  fearlessly.  Degenerate  plants  and 
animals  are  pitiful  and  deplorable  exhibits  of  arrested 
development.  More  pitiful  than  all  is  the  deformity 
exhibited  in  degenerate  mankind.  The  physical,  social, 
moral,  intellectual,  and  economic  causes  of  this  degen- 
eracy must  be  studied,  noted,  and  eradicated.  Gener- 
ally speaking,  it  may  be  that  a  limited  number  of  men 
and  women  who  have  fallen  from  the  normal  type  are 
the  inevitable  outcome  of  existence  at  all,  but  it  is 
easily  apparent  that  a  profound  study  of  the  methods 
by  which  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  percentage  is  the  urgent  social  duty  of  the 
hour.  We  must  probe  deep  and  long  until  we  have 
located  causes,  and  then  go  to  work  heroically  to  elim- 
inate them.  All  the  resources  of  church  and  state 
administered  by  high-minded  servants  of  Christ  and 
humanity  must  be  applied  to  the  solution  of  this 
problem. 


128  The  Social  Messas^e  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


Selfish  and  passionate  socialis'm  and  unionism  must 
be  persuaded  to  higher  and  better  ideals.  The  message 
of  Christ  touching  the  reactions  from  selfishness  and 
hate  are  clear  and  unmistakable.  Class  hatred  is  dan- 
gerous seed,  and  ill  must  betide  the  sowing  from  any 
source.  America  is  not  in  a  position  to  countenance 
this  sort  of  sowing  within  her  borders.  In  origin  and 
history  she  is  molded  on  broader  lines.  A  republic 
cannot  thrive  on  selfish  agitations  or  alignments  of  any 
sort.  Universal  love  arid  good  will  are  the  foundations 
of  democracy. 

l^dobs  with  curses  for  law,  order,  and  property  are 
scenes  from  which  we  may  well  shrink.  That  they 
transpire  is  at  once  a  challenge  to  the  efficiency  of  our 
civilization  and  the  agencies  that  underlie  its  develop- 
ment. Vice,  ignorance,  and  wretchedness  have  certain 
inherent  tendencies  toward  which  the  movement  is 
absolutely  certain.  The  most  marked  tendency  of  these 
is  toward  revolution.  The  anarchist  grows  out  of 
these  elements,  and  hence  lifts  his  rash  outcry  against 
the  existing  order,  whether  that  order  be  well  proven 
or  no.  Attention  to  vice,  a  ministry  to  ignorance,  and 
relief  by  righteousness  are  matters  of  common  concern 
to  the  state  and  the  church. 

Another  point  of  duty  for  present  consideration  is 
the  usurpations  of  unscrupulous  centralized  power. 
Power  aggregated  must  always  be  unsafe,  unless  con- 
trolled by  goodness.  In  proportion  as  great  power  is 
uncontrolled  by  the  ideals  of  righteousness,  it  becomes 
a  menace  to  the  general  good.  In  our  favored  land, 
we  are  all  at  work  on  the  problem  of  free  government. 
The  fundamental  idea  of  free  government  is  the  guar- 


Christ  and  American  Duty  129 

antee  of  the  rights  of  all.  It  easily  follows,  therefore, 
that  any  tendency  to  override  the  right  of  the  indi- 
vidual through  the  superior  power  of  the  corporation 
is  a  tendency  that  must  be  guarded  and  restrained. 
Institutions,  as  also  individuals,  must  be  held  respon- 
sible to  the  laws  of  righteousness.  Attention  to  the 
individual  will  compel  effort  to  the  end  that  individual 
evil  may  be  removed,  and  the  personality  readjusted 
to  the  correct  standards  of  life.  Forces  of  evil,  whether 
institutional  or  individual,  must  pass  under  redemptive 
power  and  be  reapplied.  So  long  as  the  forces  of  evil 
pursue  their  own  bent  and  trend,  they  can  only  distract 
and  destroy.  All  evil  consumes  energy,  exhausts  re- 
source, and  misapplies  valuable  life. 

This  waste  is  a  drain  upon  civilization,  which  all 
lovers  of  human  progress  must  deplore.  Wickedness 
is  always  self -destroying,  and  beyond  what  it  does  to 
selfhood  is  its  awful  blight  as  far  as  its  influence  may 
reach.  With  the  foundations  of  evil  dried  up  life 
will  flow  on  in  a  gladdening  stream.  The  fascinations 
of  the  human  family  with  evil  can  but  raise  a  query 
in  any  well-balanced  mind.  Why  the  fascination,  and 
why  a  surrender  to  it  with  the  abrogation  of  all  the 
laws  of  restraint  and  permanent  happiness? 

This  is  an  hour  that  calls  for  a  patriotism  even 
higher  than  that  called  for  in  times  of  war.  The 
patriotism  of  peace  is  the  kind  of  which  our  civiliza- 
tion has  most  need.  With  a  rapidity  pleasing  and  pro- 
phetical of  good,  the  thirst  for  war  is  passing,  and  in 
its  place  we  are  confronting  the  complex  problems  of 
peace  and  order.  War,  as  a  type  of  human  evil,  may 
well  pass,  but  in  its  stead  civilization  will  need  to  con- 


130  The  Social  Message  of  Onr  Lord 

front  surviving  evils  with  a  devout  and  even  stern 
persistency.  Ordinarily,  the  prevalence  of  peace  in  a 
nation  is  accompanied  by  great  prosperity.  It  also 
means  the  advance  of  learning,  the  encouragement  of 
art,  the  development  of  government.  Evil,  under  these 
circumstances,  is  sure  to  arise  in  some  other  form 
than  that  of  war,  and  the  form  may  be  all  the  more 
dangerous  because  it  comes  under  the  disguises  and 
refinements  of  a  luxurious  and  ample  material  prog- 
ress. The  patriotism  of  peace  calls  for  a  scrupulous 
regard  for  the  essential  equities,  for  a  care  to  maintain 
the  equality  of  all  before  the  law  and  in  the  presence 
of  opportunity.  It  also  compels  the  execution  of  the 
strictest  justice  and  the  exemplification  of  the  true 
spirit  of  brotherliness.  In  the  directions  we  have  indi- 
cated are  to  be  found  some  of  the  calls  of  duty  and 
patriotic  concern  in  this,  our  favored  land  and  genera- 
tion. 

Let  us  scan  at  least  briefly  the  responsibility  of  the 
church  of  Christ  as  set  in  the  center  of  American 
duty.  Upon  her  devolves  the  task  of  a  Christlike 
sensitiveness  to  all  the  needs  of  the  current  age. 
Christianity  has  never  failed  where  its  inherent  life 
has  had  opportunity  for  expression  and  development. 
W^henever  its  generic  life  flows  unhindered  toward  the 
realization  of  the  Christ  character  in  humankind,  there 
it  will  inevitably  succeed  in  planting  the  standard  of 
human  hope  and  progress.  It  becomes  the  duty  of  the 
church  to  keep  with  the  masses.  Here  is  her  natural 
home.  If  she  and  the  masses  are  apart,  it  can  only  be 
because  both  have  yielded  to  serious  defects.  The 
Christian  religion  is  the  natural  ally  of  popular  afifec- 


Christ  and  American  Duty  131 

tion  and  interest.  Among  all  the  institutions  and  agen- 
cies which  appeal  to  human  attention,  nothing  sur- 
passes in  genuine  attractiveness  the  true  church  of 
Jesus  Christ.  When  she  serves  in  the  spirit  and  meas- 
ure of  her  Lord  and  his  gospel,  she  can  but  secure  an 
unquestioned  place  in  human  interest,  yea,  in  human 
love.  The  church  stands  for  blessing  and  beneficent 
ministry.  She  is  God's  angel,  sent  for  the  relief  and 
even  the  cure  of  human  ills.  Her  commission  is  aglow 
with  the  character  and  life  of  her  divine  Head. 

In  order  to  fulfill  the  reasonable  expectations  of 
civilization,  the  church  must  put  her  activities  on  a 
higher  plane  than  mere  quest  for  members.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine  how  much  the  church  has  sufifered 
by  allowing  a  mania  for  numbers  to  overcome  her  care 
for  the  quality  and  fullness  of  her  gospel.  There  is  a 
snare  in  the  ambition  for  great  statistical  exhibit.  \\'e 
may  be  so  overborne  by  this  desire  for  numbers  that 
we  quite  forget  those  things  that  are  of  far  more  vital 
importance.  The  church  that  will  conduct  its  work 
on  a  plane  of  exact  obedience  and  fidelity  to  the  gospel 
and  methods  of  our  Lord  will  not  suffer  finally  in  its 
lists  of  membership,  but  it  must  always  sufifer  when, 
for  any  reason,  it  removes  its  services  from  the  higher 
plane  to  the  lower.  God  is  always  attentive  to  the 
matter  of  quality.  ]\Ian  is  more  likely  to  yield  to  the 
seductions  of  quantity. 

It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  church  to  render  a 
service  in  human  need  and  development  which  cannot 
be  challenged.  Ordinarily  the  church  has  shown  an 
ability  to  institute,  on  her  own  motion,  the  essential 
criticism  of  herself  in  motive  and  method.    The  church 


132  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

has  never  been  without  the  criticism  of  men  without 
her-  communion,  and  she  probably  never  will  be.  It 
may  be  said,  however,  to  the  great  credit  of  the 
church's  vitality,  that  her  most  profound  and  helpful 
criticism  has  originated  with  herself,  and  that  there 
never  has  been  a  time  when  she  was  lacking  in  an 
ability  for  this  valuable  function  from  within.  Wher- 
ever, in  the  present  crisis,  the  church  is  taking  up  with 
absolute  fearlessness  and  devotion  the  work  of  Chris- 
tian ministry,  leadership  and  service,  she  stops  the 
mouths  of  her  foes  and  compels  a  tribute  from  even 
the  ungodly. 

The  vital  element  in  the  church's  life  must  always 
be  a  consuming  desire  to  build  up  and  perfect  hu- 
manity. Such  a  definition  of  the  church's  duty  lays 
upon  her  an  infinite  task.  Such  a  definition  grows 
more  and  more  significant  as  we  study  it  and  throw  in 
contrast  the  urgent  problems  that  characterize  this 
age.  It,  however,  is  as  clear  as  the  noonday  that  only 
as  the  church  takes  up  this  real  and  mighty  task  can 
she  hope  to  fulfill  her  mission,  disarm  her  critics,  and 
overcome  her  foes.  Humanity  must  be  perfected  in 
the  furnace  fires  of  earthly  agitation,  trial,  and  sor- 
row. With  all  the  diversity  of  human  need  that 
diversity  is  not  wider  than  the  church's  God-given 
ability  to  minister. 

The  church  of  our  Lord  is  called  to  giving  and 
serving  rather  than  investing.  That  is  to  say,  she 
dares  not  hold  over  all  of  her  council  tables  the  ques- 
tion of  what  will  come  back  to  her  treasury  and  her 
organic  life  as  the  result  of  the  outflow  of  her  re- 
sources  of   men   and   money.       Her   giving   and   her 


Christ  and  American  Duty  133 

unselfish  serving  are,  indeed,  investments  of  the  high- 
est order,  but  they  are  not  the  kind  which  the  passion 
for  gain  in  the  commercial  world  has  compelled  us  so 
largely  to  think  about.  In  other  words,  the  commer- 
cial spirit  dare  not  dominate  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Whenever  she  proposes  to  cheapen  her  serv- 
ice by  a  decision  that  she  must  have  a  return  to  her 
treasury  for  what  she  expends  in  the  ministry  to 
human  need  and  suffering,  she  will,  by  so  much,  dimin- 
ish her  power  and  misrepresent  her  Lord.  Missions 
in  the  cities,  missions  in  the  country,  missions  at  home, 
and  missions  abroad  must  be  maintained  by  the  church 
whether  they  pay  commercially  or  not ;  for  all  such 
work  let  the  prosperous  church  pay  the  bills  and  give, 
expecting  nothing  in  return.  It  is  only  by  placing  the 
life  and  the  work  of  the  church  on  this  biblical  plane 
that  we  can  hope  to  have  the  blessing  of  Christ  and 
the  approving  interest  of  all  right-minded  men. 

The  responsibility  of  the  Christian  for  service  will 
often  suggest  identification  with  a  weak  church  or 
mission,  even  though  such  identification  may  not,  first 
of  all,  promote  our  comfort  and  social  advantage.  The 
great  question  with  the  disciple  of  Christ  must  ever 
be,  How,  where,  and  when  can  I  most  certainly  rep- 
resent and  carry  out  the  controlling  will  of  my  Lord 
and  Master?  Far  too  many  Christian  people  in  the 
present  age  worship  at  the  shrine  of  numbers,  wealth, 
and  talent,  as  represented  in  some  great  congregation, 
to  which,  as  a  matter  of  ease,  they  attach  themselves. 
Naturally,  the  large  and  wealthy  congregation  offers 
excellent  social  advantages,  and  can  always  ex- 
hibit and  command  in  its  occasions  of  worship  and 


134  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

public  assembly  talent  of  a  very  high  grade;  but  far 
oftener  than  we  could  wish  scores  of  Christ's  disciples 
hide  themselves  away  from  the  need  of  the  world  in 
the  great  congregation  wherein  individual  responsi- 
bility is  reduced  to  the  minimum. 

It  is  clearly  the  duty  of  the  church  to  broaden  her 
ministry.  Far  too  long,  in  some  quarters,  conceptions 
of  what  the  church  might  or  might  not  undertake  to 
do  have  been  too  narrow.  This  narrowness  of  vision 
has  narrowed  activity,  dried  the  fountains  of  sym- 
pathy, and  impaired  the  high  efficiency  to  which 
the  church  in  God's  economy  is  ordained.  Very 
properly  a  congregation  of  Christians  in  this  age  may 
place  on  the  schedule  of  things  to  be  undertaken  and 
wrought  out  a  greater  variety  than  has  been  possible 
in  the  past.  Our  complex  civilization  is,  every  year, 
raising  new  issues  and  defining  added  responsibilities 
for  good  people.  We  are  rapidly  reaching  the  conclu- 
sion that  no  greatness  can  exist  without  goodness  of 
the  genuine  sort. 

The  church  is  called  upon  to  grapple  with  the  her- 
culean task  of  maintaining  the  purity  of  the  nation 
under  advancing  and  abounding  light.  The  general 
advance  in  knowledge  is  flooding  the  mind  of  this 
generation  with  light,  and  that  means  that  we  shall 
confront  the  serious  question  of  creating  an  adequate 
moral  force  and  control  for  the  added  information. 
Historically,  we  know  that  it  is  easier  to  evangelize  a 
nation  than  to  maintain  its  purity  after  it  has  been 
evangelized.  This  fact  is  a  tribute  to  the  religion  of 
Christ  and  indicates  how  absolutely  it  is  fitted  for  the 
promotion  of  advancing  evolutions  in  social  order  and 


Christ  and  American  Duty  135 

efficiency.  The  human  family  has  a  proneness  to  rest 
in  the  initial  processes.  Against  this  tendency  we 
must  wage  an  everlasting  warfare.  Only  as  we  sur- 
mount this  difficulty  can  we  make  sure  of  the  reigning 
life  of  Jesus  Christ  in  our  midst,  and  of  the  marvelous 
strides  forward  which  we  are  all  anxious  shall  char- 
acterize our  civilization. 

After  evangelization,  follows  the  danger  of  substi- 
tuting machinery  for  spirituality.  Another  danger  just 
as  deadly  is  that  of  substituting  culture  or  knowledge 
for  piety.  To  be  keenly  alive  to  this  peril  is  to  prac- 
tically guarantee  our  deliverance  from  it.  An  intense 
realization  of  the  fact  that  no  real  excellence  of  char- 
acter is  possible  to  the  church  without  care  for  spir- 
ituality is  of  first  and  primal  importance.  There  are 
numberless  temptations  to  overlook  this  fact.  These 
temptations  must  be  overcome  and  the  church  led,  not 
only  to  see  duty  at  this  point,  but  to  feel  in  her  deepest 
heart  her  absolute  need  of  reincarnating  in  her  life 
and  love  the  life  and  love  of  her  Lord. 

Let  us  conclude  here  with  attention  to  a  few  notes 
of  warning.  Free  government  means  self-government. 
Self-government  means  high-grade  character  and  in- 
telligence. Conscience,  intelligence,  comfort  are  an 
essential  trinity.  They  have  logical  relation  to  one 
another,  and  united  make  a  complete  cycle.  Nothing 
will  save  but  the  efficient  prevalence  of  religion.  These 
are  the  safeguards  of  the  American  republic.  Nations 
and  cities  have  perished  because,  in  their  violation  of 
honesty  and  righteousness,  they  went  beyond  recall. 
Apostasy  caused  the  Dark  Ages.  Our  own  loved 
America  may  be  the  final  problem  in  the  history  of 


136  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

the  race.  If  America  fails  in  her  leadership  and  char- 
acter, who  can  predict  the  influence  upon  the  world? 
We  are  classed  among  the  Christian  nations,  and  yet, 
in  the  comprehensive  use  of  the  term,  we  are  far  from 
being  a  Christian  nation.  If  America  is  not  thor- 
oughly Christianized,  one  more  nation  will  perish  on 
the  earth.  The  decisive  conquest  of  America  for 
Christ  and  the  gospel  must  come  now.  We  cannot 
delay  the  crisis  of  moral  battle,  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  The  panorama  of  passing  events  presents 
for  our  steady  and  calm  contemplation  developments 
with  startling  rapidity  and"  of  a  character  to  involve 
our  profoundest  concern.  The  Pacific  Ocean  is  rap- 
idly becoming  the  world's  central  sea.  Even  a  few 
decades  are  to  witness,  if  our  Lord  shall  tarry,  devel- 
opments, political  and  religious,  along  its  shore  lines 
that  will  astonish  the  most  far  seeing.  Everywhere 
and  all  the  time  we  must  associate  Jesus  Christ  with 
American  duty  and  move  forward  to  those  glorious 
culminations  in  power  and  service  of  which  he  is  the 
guarantee. 


CHRIST  IN  HUMAN  EXPERIENCE  THE 
SUPREME  UTILITY. 

XXII. 

Our  age  is  utilitarian,  and  that  test  is  passing  upon 
all  matters  that  appeal  to  public  attention  and  interest. 
Christianity  is  an  experience.  It  deals  with  the  essen- 
tial spiritual  nature  of  mankind;  it  proposes  to  come 
into  that  nature  because  it  stands  for  certain  well- 
defined  expressions  and  results  in  human  character 
and  conduct.  Christ  does  not  shrink  from  this  test 
of  utility. 

Touching  humankind,  there  are  certain  possible 
sources  of  action.  One  may  act  from  information  and 
fact.  This  is  intelligent  and  philosophical.  Both 
information  and  fact  lose  their  fruitage  and  signifi- 
cance unless  action  follows.  Any  action  is  logically 
accounted  for  when  based  upon  either  of  these  causes. 
Again,  men  may  act  because  of  the  influence  of  the 
unseen  and  the  spiritual.  Facts  as  to  what  we  see  or 
what  we  cannot  see  should  prepare  the  way  for  con- 
sciousness. This  is  legitimate  fruitage.  There  follows 
also  the  reciprocal  relation  between  consciousness  and 
fact.  Consciousness  can  make  a  mighty  use  of  facts. 
Facts  enter  personality  by  the  process  of  transfusion. 
To  work  from  consciousness  is  to  work  from  inspira- 
tion. This  is  working  from  the  internal  and  the  spir- 
itual to  the  external.     Whether  from  consciousness  or 


138  The  Social  Messasre  of  Our  Lord 


&' 


information,  the  duty  of  all  personality  is  action.  One 
may  act  from  both  consciousness  and  information,  or 
he  may  act  from  either.  By  all  means,  the  vital  word 
for  mankind  is  "action." 

The  experience  of  Christ  is  the  true  dynamic  for 
social  service.  We  read,  ''J^sus  knowing  that  the 
Father  had  given  all  things  into  his  hands,  and  that  he 
was  come  from  God,  and  was  returning  to  God,  arose 
from  his  place,  and  taking  off  his  upper  garments, 
tied  a  towel  about  his  waist  and  proceeded  to  wash  the 
disciples'  feet."  At  first  glance,  this  statment  affords 
what  we  may  term  an  anti-climax.  Jesus  definitely 
announces  the  most  sublime  consciousness  of  his  life ; 
namely,  that  he  came  from  God,  was  returning  to  God, 
and  in  the  interval  he  was  God's  plenipotentiary  to  the 
earth.  From  this  sublimest  consciousness  he  is  im- 
mediately moved  to  an  expression  in  the  humblest 
possible  social  service,  to  the  group  of  men  whom  he 
had  called.  Here  is  a  message  which  we  are  bound  to 
consider.  The  whole  incident  is  fraught  with  instruc- 
tion. We  readily  conclude  that  the  experience  of 
Christ  wrought  into  human  consciousness  is  immedi- 
ately subject  to  draft  in  helpful  ministry.  Christ 
appoints  that  this  consciousness  of  him  shall  be  the 
dynamic  for  service  to  our  fellows.  Moments  of  spe- 
cial spiritual  vividness  will  perish  out  of  our  hearts 
unless  they  be  suffered  to  express  themselves  in  utili- 
tarian activities. 

Christ  is  the  great  economist,  and  it  is  his  plan  and 
purpose  that  the  spiritual  experiences  which  flow  from 
him  to  the  human  spirit  shall  immediately  be  con- 
nected with  the  hard  work  of  this  busy  world.     With 


Christ  in  Human  Experience  139 

this  th.ought  in  mind,  we  can  readily  see  the  vital  rela- 
tionship which  exists  between  man's  experience  of  the 
Saviorship  of  Christ  and  the  daily  routine  of  duty  and 
toil.  He  who  would  have  the  sweetest  visions  and 
experiences  growing  out  of  communion  with  Christ 
must  consider  how  these  may  fall  out  of  the  heart, 
absolutely  and  finally,  unless  they  be  coronated  and 
used  at  once  in  the  activities  of  Christ-inspired  serv- 
ice. Here  we  may  find  an  explanation  as  to  some  of 
the  waning  characters  that  have  had  more  or  less  rela- 
tion to  the  forms  of  Christian  worship.  Under  the 
inspirations  of  the  Christ  experience  one  must  invari- 
ably go  forth  to  nobility  of  service  and  efficiency  of 
action.  With  such  a  dynamic  as  this,  who  can  meas- 
ure the  social  service  of  the  church  of  Christ? 

Christ  in  human  experience  glorifies  the  commonest 
service  and  lifts  it  into  exalted  ministry.  It  seemed  a 
very  common  thing  for  our  Lord  to  wash  the  feet  of 
the  disciples,  and  evidently  he  yielded  himself  in  this 
act  of  humility  for  the  specific  purpose  of  expressing 
his  own  inherent  life,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  the 
world  for  all  time  to  come  the  vital  message  now  under 
discussion.  A  sublime  spiritual  consciousness  is  not 
a  dreamy  or  impractical  thing.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
the  need,  yea,  the  absolute  need  of  the  most  common- 
place life.  Knowing  that  he  w^as  the  Son  of  God,  our 
Lord  washed  the  disciples'  feet ;  and  know^ing  that  w^e 
are  the  sons  of  God  through  faith  in  him.  we  shall 
have  power  to  do  and  serve  in  his  name. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  consciousness  and  the  deed 
may  well  be  simultaneous.  Doubtless  we  lose  in  char- 
acter vigor  whenever  there  is  a  long  interval  between 


140  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

our  rarest,  moments  of  spiritual  consciousness  and 
some  marked  expression  of  that  consciousness  in  serv- 
ice to  our  fellow-men.  We  are  always  in  need  of  a 
great  reserve  for  the  little  deed.  Only  so  can  we  be 
certain  of  the  momentum  which  will  carry  us  beyond 
the  deadly  center  of  our  own  selfishness.  All  the  work 
of  life  needs  to  be  wrought  out  under  this  spiritual 
experience  of  Jesus  as  divine  Master  and  Lord.  The 
world  has  never  tried  this  prescription  and  reported  a 
failure.    Its  use  insures  success. 

There  are  temptations  and  possibilities  of  ineffi- 
ciency even  under  the  highest  spiritual  consciousness. 
This  statement  is  not  discouraging,  but  it  is  instruct- 
ive. We  may  well  take  warning  and  bestir  our  hearts. 
No  excellence  without  struggle,  and  no  culmination  of 
struggle  is  utilized  save  as  we  secure  the  character 
victory ;  no  one  may  rest  in  beatific  quiet  and  senti- 
mental contemplation.  These  are  all  good  in  their 
way,  and  must  never  be  ruled  out  of  thought  or  prac- 
tice, but  we  dare  not  rest  in  them.  Every  genuine 
spiritual  experience  and  inspiration  will  prove  its  divin- 
ity in  visible  and  useful  labor.  It  cannot  be  other- 
wise. We  may  well  regret  with  the  most  profound 
repentance  any  failure  at  this  point.  Out  yonder  is 
the  battle-field,  and  here  the  armor  and  ammunition 
for  the  bloodless  conflict.  Spiritual  consciousness  must 
not  miscarry  or  fall  short  of  the  mark. 

The  higher  the  consciousness  the  more  abundant  the 
service.  Here  is  the  secret  of  successful  resistance  in 
the  temptations  that  come  to  good  people.  Through 
the  great  compassion  of  Christ  and  the  forbearance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  lures  to  higher  spiritual  conscious- 


Christ  in  Human  Experience  141 

ness  are  frequent  and  attractive.  *'We  know  that  we 
have  passed  from  death  unto  life  because  we  love  the 
brethren."  That  is  to  say,  one's  spiritual  consciousness 
of  having  passed  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan 
and  moral  death  into  the  liberty  and  illumination  of 
discipleship  to  Christ  is  demonstrated  by  an  over- 
whelming desire  for  the  well-being  of  our  brothers. 
Does  the  old  world  need  this  ministry?  Showing  our 
relationship  to  Christ  is  a  broad  and  comprehensive 
obligation.  The  more  nearly  the  relationship  is  per- 
fected, the  more  absolutely  the  obligation  is  estab- 
lished. The  more  vital  the  experience,  the  more  all- 
embracing  the  sphere  of  duty  and  service. 

It  is  possible  to  die  of  spiritual  luxury.  Just  as  in 
the  case  of  daily  menu  for  the  body,  the  absence  of 
the  plain,  substantial,  and  nutritious  would  shortly 
result  in  depleted  physical  energy,  so  in  the  Christian 
life,  if  one  should  dwell  upon  the  ecstasies  and  high 
communions  of  his  glorious  experience  without  atten- 
tion to  the  plain  duty  of  fellowship  with  the  church, 
steady  cooperation  in  Christian  work,  careful  and 
daily  Bible  study,  the  result  could  only  be  emaciated 
character.  The  very  highest  in  Christian-  experience 
must  have  great  care  lest  the  temptations  to  the  im- 
practical, the  extreme,  and  the  visionary  shall  over- 
come one  and  remove  him  from  the  resource  of  the 
church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  very  highest  spiritual  consciousness  is  always 
accompanied  by  promptings  to  duty  and  service. 
Obedience  to  these  promptings  is  the  path  of  safety. 
God-given  feelings  may  be  utterly  worn  out  by  our 
disregarding  them.    One's  condition  is,  indeed,  pitiable 


142  The  Social  ^Messasre  of  Our  Lord 


fe' 


when  he  has,  by  his  lack  of  intelligent  daily  obedience, 
incapacitated  himself  for  the  recurrence  of  the  finest 
sensibilities  within  the  range  of  experience.  It  is 
against  this  inevitable  result  that  the  apostle  gives 
warning  when  he  admonishes  that  we  "quench  not  the 
Spirit."  Quench  not  the  Spirit  in  highest  aspirations 
and  holiest  vision.  Quench  not  the  Spirit  by  withhold- 
ing life  from  service,  however  humble  and  unnoted 
that  service  may  be.  Doctrine  and  experience  must 
at  once  pass  into  example  and  conduct. 

Christ  in  human  experience  places  life  on  the  plane 
above  that  of  mere  reason.  We  may  not  always  work 
from  the  standpoint  of  knowledge  or  understanding. 
He  who  chooses  to  refrain  from  effort  save  as  he  is 
guided  by  these  may  refrain  indefinitely  from  the 
choicest  paths  of  life.  The  reason  must  sometimes 
stand  aside.  Wisdom  speaks  in  the  command  that  we 
shall  do,  and  afterward  we  shall  know.  Alany  things 
in  life  are  properly  done  without  full  understanding 
at  the  time  of  their  significance  by  the  parties  con- 
cerned. A  child  memorizes  the  Scriptures,  but  the 
meaning  of  the  Scriptures  is  for  the  time  unnoted.  A 
child  is  offered  in  infant  baptism  without  realizing  the 
possible  relations  of  such  baptism  to  after  life  and 
character.  Some  things  are  to  be  done  before  they 
can  be  fully  explained,  because  of  limitations  in  the 
human  mind.  This  calls  for  a  trusting  obedience  to 
God's  will  as  the  test  and  the  source  of  high  character. 

This  thought  may  be  illustrated  by  the  planting  of 
the  tiny  seed  in  the  cold  earth.  This  planting  must 
often  be  done,  yea,  always  done  without  our  under- 
standing   fully    the    secret    processes    and    forces    of 


Christ  in  Human  Experience  143 

nature  that  manifest  themselves  in  the  germination  of 
the  seed.  We  do  know  that  the  sun,  the  earth,  the 
air,  all  unite  in  the  miracle  of  seed  life  and  growth. 
After  a  while  we  return  to  find  acres  of  waving  grain, 
vintages  of  purple  fruit. 

Many  elements  in  human  character  can  be  devel- 
oped only  by  ministries,  trials,  and  experiences  in 
which  reason  is  quite,  or  almost  helpless.  If  we  were 
to  endure  our  da3's  of  suffering  and  adversity  with  no 
source  of  relief  but  that  afforded  by  our  reasoning 
faculties,  ours  would,  indeed,  be  a  dreary  world. 
Christian  experience  makes  it  possible  for  character  to 
ripen  through  all  the  days  of  sorrow  and  distress. 
Faith  triumphs  over  the  mysteries  of  life.  She  sings 
her  song  of  abounding  joy  in  the  presence  of  reverses 
and  fears.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  we  may  come  to 
the  ordinances  of  the  church,  to  the  facts  of  the  gospel 
of  life,  to  all  the  means  by  which  life  and  character  are 
to  be  perfected,  in  the  exercise  of  a  simple  and  child- 
like trust.  Faith  is  a  higher  faculty  than  reason. 
W'lierever  we  move  in  the  doing  of  God's  will,  we  shall 
find  the  infinite  good.  Our  Lord  is  always  saying,  "I 
have  done,  therefore  do  thou."  Precedents. and  exam- 
ples vitalize  the  present,  and  beyond  these,  faith,  love, 
and  inspiration  will  bear  us  on  to  certain  victory  and 
solace.  I  cannot  always  understand,  but  I  can  always 
love,  honor,  adore,  and  serve. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  TRAINED  CHURCH. 

XXIII. 

A  MOMENT  with  definition.  The  church  is  trained 
when  she  is  made  fit.  After  that  word  "fit"  we  can 
place  the  full  category  of  Christlike  service  to  human- 
ity. The  church  is  trained  when  caused  to  see  her 
calling.  Many  perish  for  want  of  vision.  In  a  mystical 
sense  seeing  comes  before  doing.  The  church  is  called 
to  purity,  righteousness,  service,  and  eternal  life.  She 
must  see  her  calling.  The  church  is  trained  when 
caused  to  demonstrate  her  calling  and  set  it  out  in 
clearest  outline  against  the  sky;  to  demonstrate  it 
beyond  a  justifiable  doubt  or  challenge.  The  church 
is  trained  when  caused  to  work  at  her  vocation — soul- 
saving  and  life-building.  Many  a  man  who  has  a 
useful  trade  counts  for  nothing  because  he  fails  to 
work  at  it.  His  trade  is  all  right,  but  his  lack  of 
energy  and  application  causes  his  failure.  The  church 
is  trained  when  caused  to  be  genuine  and  efficient  in 
her  art,  invitation,  welcome,  and  hospitality.  There  is 
a  distinguishing  art  that  belongs  to  the  church.  It  is 
real,  unaffected,  and  cordial.  The  church  is  trained 
when  she  is  caused  to  make  good  her  profession  of 
holiness  and  service. 

Let  us  observe  more  fully  what  this  fitness  involves. 
She  must  be  made  fit  in  knowledge.  In  knowledge  of 
the  Word,  for  it  is  her  charter  and  guide.     Without 


Christ  and  the  Trained  Church  145 

this  knowledge  she  lacks  the  ability  to  grasp  her  prob- 
lems with  an  adequate  touch.  She  must  be  made  fit 
in  knowledge  of  the  need  of  her  own  parish ;  the 
need  of  her  immediate  relation  to  organized  church 
life  just  beyond  the  parish ;  the  need  in  home  and 
foreign  missions.  She  must  be  made  fit  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  past — knowledge  of  her  denominational 
past ;  in  knowledge  of  the  epochs  and  stages  that 
have  marked  the  doctrine  and  development  of  the 
universal  church ;  in  the  knowledge  of  the  missionary 
trials  and  triumphs  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the 
earth.  She  must  be  made  fit  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
present;  the  present,  with  its  diversified  and  impera- 
tive claims  to  all  that  the  church  has  and  is  for  human 
elevation,  for  outreach  and  upbuilding  in  human  char- 
acter. It  is  tragedy  itself  for  a  church  to  be  set 
in  the  midst  of  the  thrilling  exigencies,  responsibilities, 
and  opportunities  of  the  present  hour  without  a  due 
sense  of  appreciation  and  response  to  this  unparalleled 
occasion  for  the  triumph  of  Christianity. 

The  church  is  trained  when  made  fit  in  faith.  The 
first  essential  faith  is  a  faith  in  God,  in  the  mighty 
potencies  which  emanate  from  him,  and  which  he  is 
willing  in  a  sense  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  church 
in  all  ages;  faith  in  God  as  inclined  earnestly  and 
urgently  toward  all  men  in  redemptive  love  and  power. 
The  church  must  be  made  fit  by  faith  in  man.  It 
appears  at  times  as  if  the  old-fashioned  expectation 
that  violent  and  vile  men  can  be  saved  by  the  power 
of  Christ  to-day  as  in  any  yesterday  has  not  the  place 
it  should  have  in  the  working  faith  of  the  church  of 
this  generation.     The  church  must  believe  thoroughly 


146  The  Social  Messas^e  of  Our  Lord 


to' 


that  man  is  savable.  Whenever  we  have  lost  grip  at 
this  point  we  contribute  to  the  church  untrained.  We 
must  persist  in  a  faith  in  man's  ability,  through  divine 
grace,  to  arise  above  the  enslavements  of  an  evil  heart 
into  a  companionship  with  God  and  the  good.  The 
church  is  trained  when  she  has  faith  in  her  mission  to 
men.  In  order  to  conquest,  the  church  must  move 
under  a  high  sense  of  her  mission  as  of  all-embracing 
importance  and  graciousness.  She  is  in  the  world  to 
save,  fulfilling  the  original  purpose  of  her  Lord  and 
Master.  The  church,  without  a  sense  of  her  mission, 
divinely-inspired  and  inwrought,  is  the  most  helpless 
organization  on  the  earth.  The  church  is  trained  when 
it  has  faith  in  its  message.  Its  message  is,  of  neces- 
sity, the  message  of  the  Christ.  It  is  to  the  heartache 
and  sorrow  of  the  world ;  it  proposes  comfort,  renewal, 
rest,  and  eternal  life.  It  is  the  message  of  pardon, 
divine  uplift,  and  sonship  in  the  heavenly  kingdom. 
It  is  the  message  of  triumph  here  and  now,  and  of 
victory  in  the  presence  of  the  grave. 

The  church  is  trained  when  made  fit  in  power  to 
represent  Jesus  Christ  in  the  earth.  She  must  be  made 
fit  in  the  power  of  experience.  Let  this  never  be 
omitted  by  the  ministry  or  by  the  pew.  It  is  essential 
to  the  complete  influence  and  the  complete  character. 
It  embraces  all  that  is  desirable  and  necessary  in  indi- 
vidual character.  The  church  is  trained  when  she  is 
made  fit  for  her  Lord's  work  in  the  power  of  character. 
Christlike  character  is  power  in  and  of  itself.  To  be 
like  Jesus  Christ  in  moral  quality  is  to  possess  in  so 
much  the  power  of  divinity.  The  church  trained  in 
character  power   is   invincible   by   all   the   contending 


Christ  and  the  Trained  Church  147 

influences    that    may    be    arrayed    against    her.      The 
church  is  trained  when  made  fit  in  the  power  of  divine 
reaHzation.     The  best  of  all  is  that  God  is  with  us,  as 
one  of  old  declared.     God  imminent  in  the  church  as 
the  source  of  power  is  the  unparalleled  provision  which 
the    gospel    makes    for    the    church's    efficiency    and 
growth.     The  church  is  trained  wdien  made  fit  in  the 
power  of  genuineness  and  thoroughness.     These  are 
great  tests  for  the  work  of  any  organization  or  of  any 
individual.      They   are  absolute   conditions   of   power 
for  the  church   on  the  earth.     Thoroughness  counts 
anywhere,  and  always  yields  abundant  reward.     It  is 
a  quality  of  high  and  essential  importance.   The  church 
must  be  made  fit  in  the  power  of  initiative.     Pastors 
and  churches  ought  to  cultivate  the  power  of  originat- 
ing  and   doing   things    even   without   any   outside   or 
supervisory  touch.     It  is  not  a  compliment  to  church 
virility  wdien  constant  supervisory  visitation  is  the  lone 
s:uarantee  of  a   reasonable   activitv  and  achievement. 
The  supervisory  touch  is  powerless  if  there  be  no  local 
power   of   initiative   to   give   response   and   continued 
effixiency  in  the  absence  of  the  supervisory  touch.    \\'e 
shall  not  escape,  as  long  as  human  nature  is  what  it  is, 
the  need  for  the  visitation  and  leadership  of  superin- 
tendents in  order  to  stimulus,  quickened  interest,  and 
unflagging    devotion ;     but    we    repeat,    no    church    is 
trained  until  it  has  a  large  power  of  initiative  which 
is  constantly  evidencing  itself  in  new  methods,  in  new 
enterprises,  and  in  advancing  standards.     The  church 
is  trained  when  made  fit  in  the  power  of  leadership. 
Review  the  departments  of  the  modern  church,  and 
you  will  see  how  untrained  a  church  must  be  regarded 


148  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

when  it  has  no  trained  leadership.  In  fact,  success  at 
this,  point  assures  good  history  and  abundant  fruit. 
The  church  must  be  trained  in  the  power  of  achieve- 
ment, the  power  of  doing  things,  the  power  of  bringing 
things  to  pass.  At  the  end  of  a  great  task  there  always 
comes  an  added  sense  of  power.  Confidence  is  begot- 
ten by  achievement.  It  is  related  of  an  individual  that 
he  dreamed  he  entered  heaven.  He  was  challenged 
as  he  entered  the  gates  ajar;  the  challenge  involved  the 
reference  to  his  opportunity  for  service  and  the  fruit- 
fulness  of  his  life  under  these  opportunities.  The  man 
hung  his  head  when  he  thought  how  little  he  had  done, 
and  he  seemed  to  hear  the  angel  say,  "Is  this  all  you 
have  to  show  for  your  life?" 

The  church  is  trained  when  it  is  made  fit  for  the 
Lord's  work  by  the  temper  of  conquest.  This  temper 
must  come  into  individual  members.  It  must  thor- 
oughly possess  the  aggregation  of  individuals  who 
constitute  the  congregation.  There  must  come  the 
temper  of  local  conquest,  a  rugged  determination  to 
win  out  in  the  battles  of  a  local  parish.  A  study  of 
problems  that  must  be  solved  in  order  to  satisfactory 
parish  productivity.  The  temper  of  conquest  in  the 
local  church  will  lead  to  insistence  on  revivals,  on  mis- 
sionary interest,  on  intelligent  cooperation  in  all  the 
great  movements  for  forwarding  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  church  is  trained  when  it  is  brought  to  the  temper 
of  conquest  as  to  the  general  or  denominational  life, 
of  which  the  local  church  is  a  part.  Call  this  connec- 
tionalism,  if  you  will ;  it  is  the  condition  of  high  effi- 
ciency in  carrying  forward  the  tremendous  enterprises 
which  devolve  upon  Christianity  in  this  age.     Church 


Christ  and  the  Trained  Church  149 

to  church,  conference  to  conference,  association  to 
association,  synod  to  synod,  presbytery  to  presbytery; 
and  in  all  of  this  we  can  truly  adopt  the  language  of 
the  splendid  hymn,  the  first  line  of  which  reads,  "Blest 
be  the  tie  that  binds."  The  church  must  be  trained  to 
the  temper  of  competitive  conquest  in  these  days. 
There  are  other  influences  at  work  than  the  influences 
of  the  gospel.  There  are  other  institutions  and  organi- 
zations which  lay  claim  on  the  time,  money,  and  talent 
of  men  and  women.  The  institutions  of  vice,  the 
organizations  for  evil  are  in  contest  for  every  inch  of 
ground,  and  only  a  church  militant  can  win. 

How  shall  we  train  the  church?  What  distinct 
elements  and  methods  shall  be  noted  and  emphasized 
in  the  training?  There  is  an  imperative  demand  for 
stronger  Bible  school  work.  The  Bible  school  must 
be  put  upon  a  better  educational  basis.  It  must  pro- 
vide for  the  use  of  graded  lessons  that  shall  have  ref- 
erence to  the  psychological  development  of  young  life. 
The  church's  Bible  school  work  must  be  stronger  in 
teaching  force,  and  in  every  requisite  which  is  called 
for  by  the  general  advance  in  the  efliciency  of  educa- 
tional methods  and  in  the  appropriate  equipment  for 
making  these  methods  effective.  We  must  have  a 
larger  emphasis  upon  the  place  and  importance  of 
adult  classes  in  the  Bible  school.  The  boy  especially 
is  likely  to  leave  the  school  when  he  approaches  man- 
hood if  he  discovers  that  the  men  have  fallen  out  of  it. 
Across  the  open  roadway  that  has  been  leading  out 
from  the  school,  and  over  which  the  hosts  of  our 
youth  have  been  passing,  we  must  throw  the  restrain- 
ing influences  of  large  organized  classes  of  adults.    We 


150  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

must  train  the  church  of  to-day  by  accepting  fully  the 
responsibility  for  such  training  and  the  large  fruit  ful- 
ness beyond  the  training. 

We  must  train  the  church  by  deepening  the  spiritual 
life  of  her  membership  without  accepting  or  indulging 
the  extremes  recognized  in  some  phases  of  the  modern 
holiness  movement.  We  must,  nevertheless,  stand  for 
those  subsequent  experiences  which  are  in  God's  plan 
to  follow  the  beginnings  in  the  spiritual  history  of  con- 
verted people.  Stripped  of  unessential  radicalism,  of 
destructive  criticism  of  the  church,  and  of  un-Christian 
attitude  toward  those  who  may  not  see  their  way  to 
the  deeper  things  of  the  Christian  life,  we  must  stand 
definitely  for  full-powered  Christianity. 

We  must  train  the  church  by  bringing  the  vision  of 
opportunity.  All  around  and  everywhere  the  fields 
are  white  to  harvest.  We  dare  not  delay.  Our  relation 
to  opportunity  is  limited.  Our  sun  will  soon  set  for- 
ever so  far  as  the  present  life  is  concerned.  ''Ere  the 
sun  of  life  goes  down,"  may  well  ring  in  our  ears  as 
affording  a  wholesome  stimulus  and  reminder. 

The  church  must  be  trained  by  complete  self -dedica- 
tion on  the  altar  of  God  and  humanity.  The  resources 
of  Christendom  are  ample  and  the  need  for  that 
resource  in  solemn  and  vital  dedication  to  the  holy 
purposes  of  the  kingdom  is  appallingly  urgent.  The 
training  of  any  church  breaks  down  at  the  most  vital 
point,  if  it  does  not  involve  the  complete  transition 
from  the  v/orldly-minded.  self-seeking  life  to  the  in- 
tense, devout,  and  consecrated  life.  Concerning  all 
this  great  and  gracious  work  the  church  of  our  Lord 
dare  not.  and  must  not  fail. 


CHRIST  AND  THE  VICTORIOUS   CHURCH. 

XXIV. 

Let  us  consider,  first,  the  place  and  purpose  of 
Christ's  church.  Any  effort  to  reach  a  true 
conception  must  have  absolute  docility  in  the  pres- 
ence of  our  Lord's  own  message.  He  indicated 
that  the  church  should  exist  for  the  purpose  of 
Christianizing  the  world.  That  objective  lingered 
with  him  ever,  and  charmed  his  great  mind  through 
all  the  days  of  necessary  sorrow.  We  can  never 
think  of  the  discipleship  in  any  generation  exhaust- 
ing itself  in  its  own  maintenance.  It  must  always 
have  the  vision  of  the  uncompleted  task  and  of  the 
goal,  though  it  appear  far  away.  Our  Lord  thought 
in  terms  that  were  all-embracing.  He  was  the  one 
perfect  cosmopolitan.  Xo  boundary  of  race  or 
meridian  interfered  with  the  breadth  and  scope  of  his 
thought  and  sympathy.  He  made  it  very  plain  that  the 
disciples  of  all  ages  were  to  be  like  their  Lord  in  that 
they  would  think  of  no  benediction  apart  from  its 
universal  distribution  and  use. 

It  is  ver}'  plain  that  our  Lord  intended  the  church 
to  adopt  and  act  upon  his  simple  view  of  duty  to  the 
world.  It  is  possible  that  we  have  made  that  duty 
complex  by  processes  and  enswathements  of  our 
own  devisements.  We  are  sure  the  church  of 
Christ  on   the  earth   to-dav  would  come   to  be  an 


152  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

engine  of  unlimited  power  if  it  would  adopt  a  deter- 
mination to  do  the  thing  that  Christ  would  have 
done.  We  are  expending  our  time  and  energy  on 
questions  of  organization  and  provincialism.  We 
have  but  to  recall  the  Pentecost  to  be  reminded  of 
the  Lord's  central  purpose  to  establish  on  the  uni- 
versal heart  of  the  race  the  redemptive  ministries 
oi  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  had  completed  his  sacrifi- 
cial work.  He  had  ascended  to  his  rightful  place 
with  the  Father  on  high.  The  acceptability  of  his 
finished  work  was  indicated  by  the  release  from  the 
heavenly  world  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  work  of 
transforming  human  character  and  inspiring  a 
Christlike  use  of  character  and  personality  through- 
out the  world.  Peter,  the  great  Jewish  Christian 
Apostle,  received  the  Pentecostal  effusion,  and  yet 
there  survived  in  him  a  provincialism  that  only  a 
special  vision  from  heaven  could  correct.  The 
message  of  Christ  was  to  spread  from  people  to 
people,  and  zone  to  zone,  until  the  whole  world  had 
heard.  The  first  essential  step  in  the  spread  of  the 
message  was  to  come  in  the  transition  of  Christianity 
from  Judaism  to  the  Gentile  world.  It  is  instruc- 
tive to  note  that  back  yonder  in  the  very  beginning 
there  was  a  tendency  to  encumber  the  simple  design 
and  absolute  universality  of  Christ's  purpose  with 
human  prejudice  and  narrowness.  Who  can  tell 
v/hat  would  be  the  result  on  the  world  immediately 
if  Christians  of  all  names  and  orders  could  be  in- 
duced to  gather  about  the  simple  message  of  Christ 
to  a  waiting  world. 


Christ  and  the  \'ictorious  Church  153 

No  question  but  our  sectarian  forms  and  organi- 
zations have  made  complex,  if  not  more  difficult, 
the  task  of  Christianizing  the  world.  By  the  very 
nature  of  these  organizations  every  sect  or  denom- 
ination feels  called  upon  to  parallel  the  others  in 
certain  costly  organizations  and  equipments.  This 
duplication  of  agencies  and  paralleling  of  institutions 
can  but  diminish  in  a  very  marked  way  the  re- 
sources of  Christendom  for  the  giving  of  the  mes- 
sage to  the  whole  race  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment.  There  mav  be  a  kind  of  strensfth  in  this 
segregation,  and  the  outfit  and  plant  necessary  at 
least,  in  our  thinking,  to  the  existence  of  such 
segregation.  If  we  mistake  not  the  signs  of  the 
times,  there  is  coming  a  new  and  unsparing  scrutiny 
of  our  methods  at  this  point.  Money  for  colleges, 
men  for  the  chairs,  money  for  theological  semin- 
aries, money  for  printing-plants,  money  for  hospi- 
tals, etc.,  all  good  in  a  way,  must  now,  as  it  appears, 
be  considered  in  the  absence  of  sectarian  ambition. 
If  the  Christian  discipleship  of  the  present  day  were 
to  unitedly  take  up  at  once  the  single  and  simple 
enterprise  of  conveying  an  intelligent  message  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  every  member  of  the  human  family 
in  the  present  generation  without  the  encumbrances 
which  have  come  as  the  result  of  our  sectarian 
forms,  who  can  deny  that  the  work  could  be  con- 
summated within  a  brief  period  of  time?  We 
are  hoping  it  may  be  done  anyhow,  and  even  with 
m.atters  as  they  are ;  but  when  we  discuss  the 
relationship  of  Christ  to  a  victorious  church,  we 
must  consider  whatever  acts  as  an  impediment  to 


154  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

the  rapid  and  thorough  evangelization  of  the  world. 
It  is  evident  that  our  Lord  would  have  his  church 
always  keenly  alive  to  the  primitive  world-vision. 
He  would  not  have  the  church  absorbed  so  utterly 
with  internal  and  institutional  interests.  No  wonder 
the  question  has  been  raised  in  foreign  mission 
fields  as  to  whether  there  may  not  be  a  unification  of 
agencies  and  equipment.  It  has  come  to  pass  that 
Foreign  Mission  Boards,  representing  the  different 
denominations,  are  entering  jointly  into  the  creation 
and  equipment  of  publishing-plants,  colleges,  and 
institutions  for  the  training  of  Christian  workers. 
This  spirit  and  policy  on  the  foreign  field  has  its 
suggestion  to  the  churches  a:t  home.  They  are 
bound  to  consider  the  suggestion  and  feel  the  force 
of  this  splendid  example  of  economy  and  unity. 

The  segregation  of  Christianity,  even  formally 
and  organically,  has  had  certain  results  (some  good, 
it  may  be)  in  the  history  of  Christianity;  for  in- 
stance, at  an  early  period  in  the  Christian  Era 
Greek  and  Latin  Christianity  became  arrayed 
against  one  another  and  each  went  its  own  way. 
Have  we  stopped  to  consider  the  plague  which  at 
once  sprang  up  under  the  very  shadow  of  cliurch 
steeples  in  the  form  of  Mohammedanism?  From 
that  day  to  this  the  man  of  the  Mosque  has  been 
a  tremendous  and  militant  foe  of  the  man  of  the 
church  ;  to  this  day  Christianity  has  no  more  im- 
placable and  unyielding  enemy.  Who  is  prepared 
to  say  that  there  is  not  a  relation  between  divided 
Christendom  and  the  appearance  on  the  earth  of  the 
religion   of  the   false  prophet?      There   is   basis   for 


Christ  and  the  Mctorious  Church  155 

meditation  at  this  point  at  least.  It  is  interesting 
also  to  note  the  historical  development  of  Christian- 
ity following  the  facts  referred  to  above.  Chris- 
tianity perished  in  Asia ;  it  survived  in  Europe, 
but  under  conventionalized  forms.  The  simple 
unctuous  message  of  the  Christ  perished  out  of  the 
heart  of  the  church.  She  fell  under  the  be- 
numbing influence  of  ceremonialism.  Then  came 
the  revival  of  learning  and  exploration.  Euro- 
pean energy  poured  forth  in  unstinted  measure  in 
these  two  spheres  of  effort.  If  God  could  not 
work  through  the  church  because  she  had  lost 
her  simple  message  and  the  simple  heart,  he  could 
Avork  around  the  church  and  quicken  the  secular 
world  into  a  renewed  effort  for  intelligence  and  in  a 
profitable  quest  for  the  boundaries  of  the  earth. 
This,  it  should  be  noted,  is,  after  all,  in  consonance 
with  the  simple  program  with  which  Christ  orig- 
inally conimissioned  his  followers.  Then  came  the 
efforts  of  the  Jesuits  to  establish  a  paganized  Chris- 
tianity with  the  Inquisition  and  the  sword.  Oh. 
the  tragedy  and  significance  of  it  all !  \\'hat  chas- 
tisements and  plagues  when  the  church  fails  of 
fidelity  to  Christ  and  his  simple  message  to  the 
children  of  men. 

The  next  development  came  in  the  Protestant 
Reformation  in  northern  Europe.  What  a  time 
there  was,  a  genuine  revival  and  restoration  of 
primitive  piety  and  faith.  The  fires  of  the  true 
devotion  commenced  to  burn  on  the  altars  of  the 
church ;  but,  alas,  alas !  the  church  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation   did   not   take   the   zvorld   plan   of   her 


156  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

Lord.  A  great  Roman  prelate  said:  "If  Protes- 
tantism had  not  broken  into  fragments  and  sects 
within  fifty  years  of  the  Reformation,  Romanism 
would  have  been  swept  off  the  earth."  Whenever 
the  church  has  failed  of  an  overwhelming  passion  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  it  has  fallen  under 
the  baneful  influence  of  the  divisive  and  partisan 
spirit.  Genuine  spiritual  Christianity  has  a  tre- 
mendous tendency  to  unity  and  simplicity  of  mes- 
sage. Care  for  organization  as  such  is  forgotten 
in  the  overwhelming  desire  for  evangelism.  A 
correct  balance  and  a  discriminating  judgment  as 
between  these  two  phases  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  an  urgent  need  of  the  hour.  Instead  of  Christ's 
simple  world  plan,  following  the  Protestant  refor- 
mation, there  came  the  growing  conflict  of  the 
different  schools  and  sects  of  Christianity.  During 
this  interval,  and  answering  somewhat  to  the 
revival  of  learning  and  exploration,  there  came  into 
every  European  home  a  desire  for  the  invasion  of 
non-Christian  lands  by  the  emissaries  of  a  military 
commercialism.  Who  will  say  there  is  not  evident 
here  the  onward  trend  and  purpose  of  Divine 
Providence  and  the  reapplication  of  a  principle 
noted  before,  that  when  God  cannot  work  out  his 
plans  and  purposes  through  his  church,  he  will  work 
them  out  on  the  outside  of  her  formal  boundaries? 
Instead  of  military  commercialism  the  church 
should  have  arisen  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  a 
united  campaign  in  ithe  bearing  of  an  intelligent 
message  of  Christ  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth.      Christianity,  herself,  should  have  traversed 


Christ  and  the  Victorious  Church  157 

all  the  seas  and  invaded  all  the  foreign  lands  with 
her  sweet  and  winsome  evangel. 

Christ  never  forsakes  his  own  world.  While  the 
lethargy  and  indifference  of  the  church  may  delay 
his  plans  they  are  not  to  be  thwarted.  In  the  crisis 
hour,  the  movement  known  as  "Pietism,"  in  Germany, 
and  the  so-called  ''Wesleyan  movement"  in  England 
and  America,  recalled  a  lapsed  church.  Follow- 
ing these  great  spiritual  movements,  sporadic  efforts 
to  obey  Christ  in  his  great  world  vision  and  on  the 
lines  of  the  great  commission  were  made.  The 
historian  notes  inspired  groups  within  the  hardened 
and  despiritualized  church.  These  groups  came  to 
the  rescue  in  an  effort  to  establish  a  spiritual 
religion  and  to  compass  the  evangelization  of  the 
whole  race.  That  movement,  thank  God,  though 
sown  in  weakness,  has  risen  in  power.  The  mis- 
sionary movements  of  the  present  day  are  all  unit- 
ing in  effort  to  establish  more  fully  the  unity  of 
Christianity  and  extend  its  ministry  to  all  men. 
We  can  but  reach  the  conclusion  that  the  extension 
of  specialized  and  sectarian  forms  of  Christianity 
and  the  Christianization  of  the  world,  as  the  simple 
duty  w^hich  Christ  had  in  mind  for  his  disciples,  are 
propositions  of  unequal  authority  and  scope.  They 
may,  or  may  not  run  on  parallel  lines ;  they  are  not 
necessarily  in  conflict,  but  they  may  become  rival 
interests.  All  our  denominational  organization  and 
machinery  can  have  no  other  worthy  function  ex- 
cept to  prepare  the  highway  over  which  the  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  may  come  to  a  waiting 
world.      As  a  great  Christian  leader  has  indicated, 


158  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

our  denominational  distinctions  have  no  universal 
validity  or  authority  as  compared  to  the  essential 
essence  and  spirit  of  the  religion  of  Jesus   Christ. 

Let  us  tarry  for  a  time  to  consider  the  true  and 
fundamental  power  of  the  victorious  church.  We 
must  observe  the  demand  for  a  far  more  general 
emphasis  on  the  common  Christian  essence  and 
experience.  Let  this  simple  message  ring  out  from 
all  our  pulpits  and  flame  forth  in  all  our  assem- 
blages. With  Christ,  the  head  of  the  church,  there 
were  no  sects,  no  denominational  polities,  no  dog- 
matic system.  Li  his  mind  there  existed  simply  a 
race  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  he  was  to  be  brought 
to  that  race.  The  contact,  the  fellowship,  the  com- 
munion would  miean  salvation  from  sin  and  the 
release  of  the  race  from  its  fatal  handicap.  In  our 
Lord's  thinking  the  church  was  to  come  to  an  effi- 
ciency by  the  true  vision  and  the  effective  contact. 

A  study  of  the  spiritual  movements  that  have 
characterized  the  Christian  centuries  reveals  the 
willingness  and  purpose  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  ope- 
rate within  the  visible  church.  That  efficient 
spiritual  movements  have  sprung  up  outside  the 
visible  church  is  a  significant  and  noteworthy  fact. 
At  this  point  our  hearts  need  to  grow  tender,  and 
our  minds  solicitous,  for  it  must  be  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  never  seek  expression  in  the  movement 
and  agencies  outside  the  church  except  we  grieve 
him  from  our  hearts  and  our  altars.  How  easily 
evident  it  is  that  we  of  the  church  to-day  need  to 
be  extremely  careful  lest  we  quench,  grieve,  and 
offend  him.      The  spiritual  movements  outside  the 


Christ  and  the  Victorious  Church  159 

church  we  are  bound  to  consider  with  judicial  fair- 
ness, without  hostility,  and  in  a  spirit  of  absolute 
candor.  The  most  hopeful  and  helpful  criticism 
of  the  church  must  ever  come  from  within.  Such 
criticism  she  will  naturally  receive  with  favor  and 
without  prejudice.  The  question  arises,  therefore, 
as  to  how  we  shall  interpret  all  this  outside  activity 
and  goodly  service  to  humanity.  It  is  helpful  to 
remember  that  God's  kingdom  is  always  more  all- 
embracing  than  its  organized  form. 

The  fundamental  power  of  the  church  is  to  come 
and  to  be  conserved  through  the  administration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  revival  of  spontaneous  right- 
eousness and  the  w^orking  of  redemptive  experience. 
There  is  an  imperative  demand  for  a  fresh  attention 
to,  and  interpretation  of  Christ's  idea  of  the  church. 
It  is  fair  to  say  that  the  essential  church  idea  w^as 
born  in  the  mind  and  soul  of  the  Son  of  God.  The 
fundamental  power  of  the  church,  furthermore,  is 
to  come  by  the  prevalence  of  a  mighty  faith  in 
supernatural  power.  We  must  insist  on  spontaneity 
rather  than  mechanism.  It  is  not  an  element  of 
sitrength,  but  a  w^eakness  that  in  the  worship  of 
the  church  there  has  so  largely  fallen  out  of  use 
appropriate,  thrilling  scriptural  public  testimony. 
Oh,  for  the  tongue  of  fire  upon  the  man  in  the  pew 
as  also  upon  the  man  in  the  pulpit!  Oh,  for  a 
church,  the  entire  membership  of  which  is  so  thor- 
oughly infused  and  indwelt  by  the  spirit  of  God  as 
to  make  public  testimony,  supported  by  godly  living, 
the  universal  expression  of  the  life  of  the  church 
victorious ! 


CHRIST  AND  SPECIALIZED  CHRISTIANITY. 

XXV. 

A  TRUTH  deserving  emphasis  in  these  strenuous  days 
is  the  continuous  identity  of  Christian  faith  and  experi- 
ence, and  its  relation  to  modern  attitudes  and  poHcies 
in  rehgious  work.  There  is  a  non-faihng  similarity 
pervading  the  real  Christian  character  in  all  genera- 
tions. Christian  experience  and  character  have  certain 
essential  elements  that  are  fundamental.  This  is  easily 
accounted  for  in  the  fact  that  all  in  Christian  experi- 
ence emanates  from  a  common  life  and  center  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Head  of  the  church.  Terms  of  the  same 
degree  make  an  equation.  A  Christian  equals  a  Chris- 
tian, no  matter  in  what  denomination,  generation,  or 
section  of  the  earth  he  may  be  found.  Our  Lord 
stands  for  a  new  race,  and  the  sons  of  men,  who, 
through  his  grace,  become  the  sons  of  God,  have  mem- 
bership in  this  new  kingdom  of  life.  All  who  are  in 
him  belong  to  the  same  family.  This  identity  in  the 
Christian  experience  and  character  is  related  to  the 
different  specialized  forms  of  Christianity. 

Let  us  observe  as  to  the  real  nature  and  value  of 
this  specialization.  Which  shall  dominate  in  our  think- 
ing and  interest,  the  specialization  with  which  we  may 
be  identified,  or  the  essential  Christian  experience  and 
character?    There  can  be  but  one  answer  to  this  inter- 


Christ  and  Specialized  Christianity  161 

rogatory.  However,  it  is"  notable  that  a  mischievous 
emphasis  is  easy,  very  easy.  Whenever  our  emphasis 
is  on  the  specialization,  rather  than  on  the  fundamental 
and  identical  experience,  we  have  an  illy-begotten  and 
misplaced  zeal.  This  zeal  is,  of  necessity,  divisive. 
The  emphasis  on  specialization  may  obscure  the  essen- 
tial experience  and  power  of  Christianity.  It  also 
may  diminish  the  vital  authority  of  the  real  Christ 
experience  and  character.  The  taking  up  by  any  sect 
of  Christians  of  certain  peculiarities  growing  out  of 
their  development,  as  a  special  expression  of  Christian 
faith  and  interest,  may  serve  to  weaken  conviction  for 
that  which  is  decisive  and  essential. 

It  is  fair  to  inquire,  What  is  the  logic  of  homo- 
geneous Christian  faith  and  experience?  If  Chris- 
tianity is  a  unit  in  fact,  how  nearly  may  it  be  a  unit  in 
form  ?  May  not  lack  of  unity  in  form  be  challenged  at 
any  time?  What  of  any  effort  or  movement  which 
destroys  the  formal  unity  of  Christianity?  Segrega- 
tion of  Christians  into  small  parties  and  organizations 
must,  of  necessity,  enforce  certain  limits  of  develop- 
ment. Isolation  is  often  perilous  and  dwarfing.  This 
is  illustrated  in  human  history  again  and  again.  Ex- 
treme devotion  to  specialization  may  also  mean  poor 
leadership.  Such  a  leadership  as  is  the  outgrowth  of 
an  unjustifiable  determination  to  rule  and  to  assume 
the  role  of  leadership.  Beyond  any  doubt  the  numer- 
ous divisions  in  our  Protestant  Christianity  encourage, 
in  some  instances,  both  passion  and  prejudice.  Frac- 
tional interest  forbids  enthusiasm.  There  is  something 
decidedly  helpful  in  the  fact  of  unity  along  given  lines 
of   action.      It    follows   that    certain    forms   of   inter- 


162  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

denominational  Christian  work  illustrate  and  justify 
this  statement.  They  have  developed  the  very  highest 
power  which  Christianity  has  exerted  in  many  vital 
respects.  A  large,  formal  unity  naturally  encourages, 
and  should  produce  a  befitting  and  God-fearing  lead- 
ership. It  provides  also  for  all  forms  and  grades  of 
service.  It  gives  the  inspiration  of  large  enterprise 
and  heroic  undertaking.  One  faith,  one  experience, 
and  a  more  nearly  unified  expression  of  both,  is  an 
ideal  toward  which  modern  Protestantism  is  slowly 
but  surely  moving. 

We  decry  unity  and  prate  of  union  in  the  absence 
of  union.     I  have  heard  men  say  that  they  did  not 
care  a  "rap  for  the  unity  of  modern  Protestantism." 
What  they  wanted  was  union  of  effort  and  action. 
The  writer  confesses  that  he  is  not  indifferent  to 
the  division  of  the  Lord's  hosts  at  this  time  in  our 
country.    He  believes  that,  far  more  largely,  Protes- 
tantism should  become  a  tangible  and  actual  unit 
in   the   Christ   life.      Uncalled   for   divisions   make 
union  impossible,  and  touching  much  of  good  that 
ought  to  be  wrought  by  the  churches  often  presents 
an  insuperable  barrier.      Judging  by  the  practice, 
rather  than  by  the  platform  utterances,  the  unity  of 
the  church  is  a  beautiful  but  well  nigh  empty  senti- 
ment with  many  people;    any  thought  of  any  other 
portion  of  the  church  than  that  with  which  they  are 
identified  having  a  right  or  a  capacity  for  occupying 
a  given   field   is   unthinkable.      The   writer  has    in 
mind  some  cases  now  where  it  has  been  a  matter 
of   public    knowledge    that    the    representatives    of 
some  of  our  denominations  have  said  that  no  com- 


Christ  and  Specialized  Christianity  163 

munity  had  the  gospel  until  their  own  particular 
sect  had  entered  the  field.  This  appears  to  be  pre- 
sumptuous and  unworthy  of  that  catholicity  of 
spirit  which  should  mark  those  who  bear  the 
Christian  name.  Some  of  our  denominations  do  not 
respect  the  right  of  previous  occupation  in  even  a 
small  parish,  but  deliberately  start  in  to  destroy 
another  church  in  order  to  build  up  their  own. 
To  be  sure,  this  is  a  manifestation  of  an  unhappy 
type  in  sectarian  life  which  is  not  prevalent  to  any 
large  degree.  There  is  a  grovy^ing  demand  for 
comity  between  denominations,  and  the  adminis- 
trative officers  of  the  dififerent  churches  are  show- 
ing a  most  gratifying  disposition  to  make  more  of 
the  principle  of  comity.  Our  sentiment  for  the 
union  and  unity  of  the  church  is  contradicted  by 
the  fact  of  unnecessary  division.  That  God  has 
overruled  for  good,  in  some  respects,  the  divisions 
of  the  past,  no  one  may  question.  Neither  can  we 
question  that  the  time  has  come  when  readjustment 
should  be  sought  and  the  formal  unification  of  many 
branches  of  Protestantism  actually  effected. 

Any  effort  to  reduce  the  number  of  denominations 
immediately  confronts  the  regrettable  results  of 
unnecessary  and  unwarranted  division.  These  re- 
grettable results  are  manifest  in  a  disposition,  in 
some  quarters,  to  magnify  nonessentials.  We 
scarcely  see  how  this  can  be  avoided  with  the 
competitive  Christian  agencies  that  enter  a  given 
field,  all  bent  upon  their  own  particular  advance- 
ment and  growth.  Our  divisions  have  encouraged 
hatred    and   bigotry.       They    have    exerted    a    bad 


164  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 


fc>' 


influence  on  the  unconverted '  world.  In  many 
cases,  this  fact  is  directly  responsible  for  the  in- 
adequate support  of  the  ministry.  It  has  made 
complex  the  problem  of  evangelizing'  the  world. 
It  has  exhausted  our  attention  on  sectarian  differ- 
entiation. It  has  gathered  us  about  evolutionary 
forms  of  Christianity  and  put  in  the  distance  the 
final  form.  Without  a  disposition  to  utter  any  kind 
of  destructive  criticism,  or  to  encourage  the  unfor- 
tunate and  unhappy  position  of  the  ''come-outer"  the 
writer  begs  for  a  favorable  consideration  of  the 
real  unification  of  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  his 
church. 

Whenever  any  movement  of  unification  is  taken 
up  a  little  way  in  the  road  reveals  many  difficulties. 
There  is  the  lack  of  acquaintance  and  real  knowl- 
edge of  one  another.  Then  there  is  the  question 
of  church  polity ;  as  between  many  of  the 
churches,  slight  fellowship.  Touching  the  ob- 
jective under  discussion,  some  church  leaders  will 
even  refrain  from  conference ;  others  really  have 
no  desire  for  the  consummation.  Probably  the 
most  far-reaching  hindrance  is  a  defective  spirit- 
uality. 

The  unification  more  or  less  extensively  realized 
must  come.  Our  age  is  utilitarian,  and  thoughtful 
men  are  inquiring  more  and  more  sternly  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  parallel  Christian  agencies  of  every  sort 
where  the  number  might  be  fewer  and  the  work 
better  done.  Everything  unfruitful  is  doomed. 
Our  divisions,  in  so  far  as  they  are  unfruitful,  Avill 
pass  tmder  this  general  law  of  judgment.      In  some 


Christ  and  Specialized  Christianity  165 

places  the  competition  between  churches  is  rapidly 
becoming    unendurable.       The    leaders    of    church 
work   can,   at   least,    correct   these    glaring  abuses, 
and   transfer   the   agencies    to   the   under-churched 
portions  of  our  country  and  the  world.      There  is 
a  call  to  readjustment  and  realignment  which  will 
not    down.       Christianity    is    confronting    gigantic 
foes    and    incomparable    tasks.      More    is    expected 
from  Christianity  in  this  age  than  in  any  previous 
period  of  the  world's  history.      Everywhere  there 
are  commanding  and  far-reaching  enterprises  and 
movements  to  be  carried  to  a  successful  issue.     We 
must  approach,  with  the  open   mind,  the  question 
of  coordination  w^herever  such  coordination  means 
a  more  thorough  efficiency.      Cooperative  power  is 
a  legitimate  force.      There   is  such   a   thing  as   an 
exaggerated  development  of  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidualism.     The  prevalence  of  civil  liberty,  rather 
than    personal    liberty,    is    the    inflexible    law   of   a 
growing  civilization.    The  atmosphere  of  the  Amer- 
ican  continent  has   been   laden   w^ith   the   spirit   of 
extreme  indulgence  in  personal  liberty.      This  prin- 
ciple of  individualism,  when   it   has  gone   to   seed, 
contributes  to  division  and  the  paralysis  of  united 
action.      The  bond  of  union  for  all  believers  is  lov- 
ing and  loyal  obedience  to  Christ  and  the  church 
as  based  on,  and  resulting  from  the  renewal   of  the 
nature  by  the  new  birth.      This  is  vital,  and  this 
only  is  fundamental. 

The   ideal   church   administration   is   based   on   the 
folio  win  Of: 

1.     The  principle  of  cooperation. 


166  The  Social  Messae^e  of  Our  Lord 


t>' 


2.  An  effective  mutualism  which  recognizes  a 
reasonable  individualism. 

3.  The  restraint  of  absolute  and  unfruitful 
independency  which  may  manifest  itself  in  local 
insubordination  and  loss  of  efficiency. 

It  is  a  mark  of  high  character  to  yield  becoming 
reverence  and  obedience  to  lawfully  constituted 
authority.  A  way  must  be  found  to  elicit,  combine, 
and  direct  the  energies  and  resources  of  the  whole 
body  of  Christ  in  supreme  and  pov/erful  effort. 
Such  effort,  indeed,  as  shall  give  Christianity  the 
mastery  of  the  world  in  the  legitimate  completeness, 
which  all  right-minded  people  must  desire.  It 
is  evident  that  the  problem  of  establishing  the 
supremacy  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  the  earth 
must  be,  and  can  be  taken  up  in  a  spirit  of  deter- 
m.ination  and  in  a  dedication  of  resources  to  Al- 
mighty God  that  shall  give  unparalleled  impetus  to 
the  reign  of  the  Christ  in  the  earth.  It  is  time  for 
the  unusual,  the  phenomenal,  and  the  adequate  in 
Christian  achievement.  At  one  time,  coming  across 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  Edison,  walking  the  deck  of  the 
steamer  and  looking  out  upon  the  rolling  waves, 
was  heard  to  cry  out,  'Tt  makes  me  perfectly  wild 
to  see  all  this  power  going  to  waste."  So,  in  the 
name  of  the  world's  awful  and  far-reaching  need, 
we  do  well  to  take  up  the  question  of  the  unification 
of  agency  and  the  conservation  of  resource.  We 
may  yet  have  to  learn  the  art  of  aggregating,  com- 
bining, and  coordinating  agencies  and  resources  in 
service.  The  supreme  function  of  the  church  must 
not  be  eclipsed  by  the  minor  questions  of  polity  and 


Christ  and  Specialized  Christianity  167 

method.  Denominational  interests  must  be  held 
as  subordinate  to  the  larger  interests  of  the  king- 
dom. We  do  well  to  cease  exaggerating  our  dif- 
ferences. Much  controversy  in  support  of  our 
differences  means  the  absence  of  evangelistic  effi- 
ciency. We  must  drive  ahead  on  the  main  issue. 
Political  union  between  different  races  with  differ- 
ent customs  and  traditions  is  a  fact  in  the  political 
government  of  the  world.  W^hy  may  we  not  have 
church  unity,  even  though  it  shall  call  for  the 
harmonizing  of  differing  church  traditions  and 
church  polities  ? 


CHRIST  AND  MONEY  GETTING. 
XXVI. 

The  passion  for  acquisition  of  money  or  property 
up  to  a  certain  point  is  to  be  commended.  Any  one 
lacking  in  a  purpose  to  satisfy  his  own  need,  and 
many  of  his  justifiable  wishes  in  Hfe,  may  be  justly 
censured  for  falling  below  the  wholesome  requisites  of 
an  efficient  social  unit.  Christ's  message  is  a  message 
of  control  touching  the  accumulation  of  all  material 
good.  He  would  attach  to  this,  as  to  everything  else 
in  life,  the  test  of  the  spiritual  motive.  He  would 
make  all  possession  amenable  to  the  social  aim.  That 
social  aim  he  unmistakably  defines.  "Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  on  earth"  is  a  message  of  wisdom 
and  moderation.  Christ  warned  against  the  danger  of 
covetousness,  and  insisted  upon  the  principle  of  re- 
sponsibility in  the  administration  of  money.  In  a 
section  of  the  New  Testament  we  may  read :  "Alas, 
for  them!  Led  astray  by  love  of  gain,  they  plunged 
into  sin  and  came  to  their  ruin."  This  is  Christ's 
lamentation  over  people  who  go  astray  because  of  an 
undue  love  of  money,  and  who,  under  the  subtle  con- 
trol of  that  love,  plunge  into  questionable  methods  and 
dishonest  practices  which  always  bring  one  to  ruin. 

America  is,  in  the  world's  thought,  the  great  conti- 
nent of  opportunity  and  material  good.  Other  con- 
tinents may  be  holding  in  their  lap  great  riches  yet  to 


Christ  and  jMonev  Getting:  169 


t> 


be  developed;  but  America  is  before  the  world's  eye, 
and  hither  come  the  emigrants  from  every  clime,  all 
expecting  to  promote  their  own  welfare.  Fertile  lands, 
favoring  climate,  people  of  thrifty  and  neighborly 
habits,  great  progress  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences,  unite 
to  invite  the  stranger  within  our  gates.  America  offers 
unparalleled  commercial  opportunities.  The  fact  that 
men  of  ability,  energy,  and  application  do  arise,  year 
after  year,  from  a  condition  of  comparative  poverty  to 
competence  and  even  wealth,  is  heralded  as  character- 
izing our  civilization.  Nowhere  else  under  the  sun  is 
devotion  to  a  business  career  so  certain  to  be  crowned 
with  success.  The  very  immensity  of  our  opportuni- 
ties in  the  world  of  commerce  has  placed  before  our 
weak  human  nature  a  temptation  to  control  the  essen- 
tial commodities  of  one  kind  and  another,  hence  we 
hear  of  ''corners"  in  this  and  that.  The  meaning  is 
that  some  sharp  and  far-seeing  men  have  combined 
in  the  control  of  capital,  which  capital,  in  turn,  controls 
the  total  output  of  some  article  of  every-day  and  uni- 
versal consumption.  One  can  see  at  a  glance  that 
tremendous  wrong  can  be  done  by  this  unscrupulous 
method  of  getting  money.  At  one  end  of  the  proposi- 
tion is  a  helpless  public,  absolutely  held  up  and  com- 
pelled to  pay,  under  protest  and  against  their  will, 
what  they  know  is  an  exorbitant,  arbitrary,  and  arti- 
ficial price  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  At  the  other  end 
of  the  proposition  are  the  farmers  of  the  country, 
who,  also,  by  this  unscrupulous  combination,  have  an 
artificial  and  arbitrary  price  fixed  on  what  they  have 
to  sell.  Between  the  rights  of  the  public  and  the 
farmer,  the  man  of  mercenary  motives  and  an  undue 


170  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 


fc>' 


passion  for  wealth  conducts  his  nefarious  scheme, 
defying  public  sentiment  and  ofttimes  the  law  of  the 
land,  to  say  nothing  about  the  God  who  broods  over 
a  struggling  world. 

It  is  well  known  that  great  transportation  companies 
are  guilty  of  rebates  and  discrimination  in  freight 
rates  to  the  unjust  enrichment  of  certain  favored  men 
and  corporations.  Here  is  a  social  and  commercial 
evil,  bound  to  be  corrected  by  the  strong  hand  of  the 
law,  backed  up  and  executed  by  an  heroic  public  senti- 
ment and  the  Government  that  stands  for  a  "square 
deal."  After  all,  exact  justice  is  the  best  thing  for 
everybody.  The  wisdom,  however,  and  beneficence  of 
this  principle  must  sometimes  be  enforced  by  law  as 
against  avaricious  and  wicked  men.  If  all  men  were 
under  the  control  of  the  social  message  and  aim  of 
Jesus  Christ,  they  would  not  wait  for  the  compulsions 
of  law  to  control  them,  but  would  be  constrained  to 
moderation  and  justice  by  the  inherent  powers  and 
dispositions  of  their. own  personality. 

Because  there  are  men  who  have  an  undue  love  of 
gain,  and  are  lacking  in  conscience,  they  resort  to  the 
organization  of  corporations,  which  they  reckon  will 
hide  their  personality  and  end  individual  responsibility. 
When  evil  men  control,  the  avowed  policy  and  purpose 
of  the  corporation  is  to  rob  the  public  for  the  sake  of 
larger  dividends.  Because  the  public  is  supposedly 
represented  by  public  officials,  and  because,  in  fact, 
public  officials  must  be  reckoned  with  in  extending 
privileges  to  corporations,  we  witness  the  distressing 
spectacle  of  corporations  corrupting  public  officials  to 
the  end  that  the  robbery  of  the  public  may  proceed 


Christ  and  ^loney  Getting  171 

unobstructed  by  official  action  or  restraint.  Christ 
indicated  that  tainted  dollars  are  a  heritage  of  death. 
It  is  as  plain  as  the  sun,  from  his  message  on  money- 
getting,  that  a  corporation,  in  its  birth,  may  be  a  crime 
against  civilization.  It  will  be,  of  necessity,  unless  it 
is  dominated  by  the  social  aim  and  spirit.  The  very 
anathemas  of  God  are  against  a  criminal  conspiracy  to 
crush  competition  and  fix  artificial  values  with  the 
producing  class,  and  artificial  values  for  the  consuming 
class. 

The  message  of  Christ  is  against  the  iniquitous  get- 
ting of  money  by  the  liquor  traffic.  Here  there  is  a 
character-testing  to  which  many  men  unfortunately 
surrender.  To  begin  w^ith,  there  is  great  profit  to  the 
manufacturer  of  intoxicating  beverages.  The  bever- 
age liquor  traffic  feeds  on  an  abnormal  and  vicious 
development  of  the  human  appetite;  its  appeal  is  to 
unholy  passion  and  indulgence.  Great  is  the  profit, 
from  the  moneyed  standpoint,  in  the  manufacture  of 
liquor.  There  is  great  profit  in  retailing  intoxicating 
beverages.  It  follows  that  the  men  who  yield  to  the 
unsocial  and  selfish  aims  for  the  sake  of  money  have 
been  able  to  build  up  palatial  homes  and  vast  fortunes ; 
but,  ''Alas,  for  them !  Led  astray  by  love  of  gain,  they 
plunged  into  sin  and  came  to  their  ruin."  Admittedly, 
many  men  of  ability  and  kindly  nature,  so  far  as  orig- 
inal endowments  are  concerned,  have  found  their  way 
into  the  liquor  business. 

Liquor  is  not  sold  as  food  is  sold.  There  is  always 
a  systematic  effort  to  increase  sales  at  any  cost  to 
human  happiness  and  domestic  thrift.  The  liquor- 
seller  rides  roughshod  over  a  natural  solicitude  for  the 


172  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

protection  of  childhood  and  youth.  The  liquor  busi- 
ness can  be  sustained  only  by  tolling  in  the  boys  and 
implanting  in  their  natures,  even  against  their  will 
and  wish,  an  appetite  for  the  deadly  cup.  It  is  the 
policy  of  the  liquor  business  to  multiply  saloons  every- 
where ;  only  so  far  as  the  corrective  influence  of  public 
opinion  has  been  exercised  lias  there  been  any  dispo- 
sition on  the  part  of  liquor  men  to  curtail  even  the 
number  of  saloons.  The  saloons  are  admittedly  the 
hotbeds  of  vice  and  animalism.  Let  it  never  be  for- 
gotten that  from  the  manufacturer  to  the  retailer,  and 
to  the  drunkard  and  those  about  him,  the  slimy  trail 
of  death  is  over  the  business.  The  liquor  traffic  is  the 
enemy  of  every  good  thing.  Iniquitous  getting  of 
money  through  the  traffic  in  strong  drink  must  be 
stopped  in  America.  Thank  God,  the  days  of  the 
licensed  saloon  are  well-nigh  numbered ! 

There  is  in  our  day  an  iniquitous  getting  of  money 
by  newspapers.  Journalism,  at  one  time,  developed 
great  men.  Not  only  were  great  men  called  into  the 
service,  but  they  grew  in  greatness  because  their  serv- 
ice did  not  permit  of  a  compromise  with  good  princi- 
ples and  wholesome  policies.  In  those  days  newspaper 
men  felt  a  moral  responsibility  to  the  public.  There 
was  no  anonymous  writing.  What  are  the  facts  to-day 
in  the  world  of  journalism?  In  the  management  of 
many  of  our  newspapers  personal  responsibility  has 
faded  away.  Many  of  our  newspapers  now  feel  at 
liberty  to  do  their  best  to  destroy  character  for  the 
sake  of  gain.  Only  some  ''interest"  that  is  willing  to 
put  up  the  money,  and  lo !  the  batteries  of  the  news- 
paper are  massed  on  character  which  dares  to  stand 


Christ  and  Money  Getting  173 

in  the  way  of  injustice  and  selfish  ambition.  Let  us 
consider  that  with  such  poHcies  in  the  management  of 
a  great  newspaper,  men  must  degenerate.  No  man 
can  stand  behind  the  hedge  of  an  impersonal  news- 
paper and  throw  bombs  at  passing  travelers  in  the 
spirit  of  disreputable  subserviency  to  wrong  and  not 
feel  the  rebound  of  his  infamous  and  cowardly  work. 
Such  a  man  strikes  like  a  hidden  reptile.  Let  him  ever 
remember,  however,  that  the  reactions  from  his  con- 
duct are  deadly.  It  would  be  unjust  to  the  newspaper 
world  to  make  no  discrimination  or  to  bring  a  universal 
accusation  against  the  men  who  have  charge  of  these 
great  builders  of  public  sentiment.  Many  of  these 
men  are  noble,  scholarly,  courageous,  and  honest.  The 
public,  as  never  before,  is  having  an  appreciation  for 
the  newspaper  that  has  convictions  and  principles  of 
high  and  approved  order  and  Vv^ill  stand  for  them  at 
any  cost.  The  reputable  journalist  who  refuses  to 
mislead  the  people  through  his  editorials  or  by  instruc- 
tion to  correspondents  and  reporters,  in  the  coloring  of 
news  columns  for  gain,  will  find  a  growing  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  American  people  to  compliment  such 
manhood,  even  to  the  reasonable  commercial  reward 
of  one  who  refuses  to  be  corrupted. 

The  student  of  present  social  conditions  cannot  but 
observe  an  iniquitous  getting  of  money  by  some  em- 
ployers of  labor.  These  misguided  men  refuse  to 
determine  wage  by  equity.  The  social  aim  forbids 
fixing  the  compensation  of  any  kind  of  labor  on  the 
mere  basis  of  supply  and  demand.  What  right  has  a 
man  of  means  to  employ  his  fellow-man  to  do  a  given 
amount  of  labor  and  accept  that  toil,  because  of  com- 


174  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

petition,  at  a  price  which  he  knows  means  an  empty 
larder,  unclothed  children,  squalor,  and  wretchedness? 
Again,  there  should  be  a  larger  acceptance  of  liability 
in  the  case  of  accidents  to  employees.  The  little 
amount  which  would  be  called  for  by  this  Christlike 
care  of  the  disabled  and  dependent  might  well  be 
accepted  as  a  legitimate  claim  upon  all  individuals  or 
corporations  that  employ  labor.  The  helplessness  of 
the  weak  should  be  considered.  ' 

Another  manifestation  of  cupidity  and  covetousness 
for  great  wealth  without  regard  to  the  principles  in- 
volved is  exhibited  by  some  of  our  bankers  and  great 
financiers.  These  train  themselves  to  severe  business 
methods,  all  because  of  a  determination  to  secure  dis- 
proportionate and  unreasonable  gain.  Greed  for  money 
can  easily  turn  a  man  into  a  financial  hyena.  He  takes 
advantage  of  the  necessities  of  others  without  scruple 
or  care.  What  if  the  mortgage  is  closed;  what  if  the 
interest  exacted  is  usury?  The  dividends  must  be 
large  and  the  fortune  must  be  fabulous.  So  the  un- 
fortunate and  misguided  man  trains  himself  to  usurous 
interest,  excessive  discounts,  and  learns  to  draw  blood 
at  every  touch.  For  such  severity  in  money  getting 
there  is  no  excuse  because  of  law,  custom,  or  business 
methods.  In  the  light  of  the  countenance  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  money  changer  must  have  regard  to  the 
claims  of  humanity,  the  demands  of  self-restraint  and 
moderation,  and  he  must  persistently  nurture  the  ten- 
derer elements  of  his  nature.  Unfortunately,  our  laws 
are  usually  made  by  the  strong,  and  usually  favor  the 
strong.  The  weak  and  the  unfortunate  are,  as  a  rule, 
never  called  upon  to  sit  in  legislative  halls.    It  follows. 


Christ  and  Money  Getting  175 

therefore,  that  everywhere  and  all  around,  men  need 
to  consider  the  claims  of  the  under  man.  Money  get- 
ting, in  any  class  or  calling,  must  be  moderated  by 
the  restraints  of  brotherhood,  justice,  and  high  social 
aim.  Over  against  the  selfish  commercialism  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  or  any  other  vicious  method  of  getting 
rich  at  the  sacrifice  of  character  and  goodness,  let  us 
place  the  health  of  American  manhood  and  the  happi- 
ness of  American  homes.  The  battle  against  avarice 
and  covetousness  is  in  behalf  of  the  virtue  and  triumph 
of  our  race  and  generation. 


CHRIST  AND  CONDUCT  REACTIONS. 
XXVII. 

There  is  a  divine  law  of  recompense.  Here  the 
Scripture :  *'As  I  have  done,  so  God  hath  requited 
me."  There  is  a  great  temptation  in  these  days 
coming  to  good  men  and  women  as  they  look  upon 
the  luxury  and  careless  life  of  many  about  them  to 
question  whether  or  not  it  is  worth  while  to  fight 
the  battle  for  a  clean  life.  Many  a  man  whose 
heart  is  well  disposed  looks  on  the  passing  throng 
of  unscrupulous  life  and  wonders  whether  it  really 
pays  to  refrain  from  evil,  and  at  times  goes  a  lonely 
wa}^  because  of  that  constraint.  It  is  easier  to  go 
with  the  multitude.  It  is  worth  while,  therefore, 
that  w^e  should  scan  afresh  the  eternal  verities  by 
which  God  would  confirm  and  justify  our  purpose 
for  holy  living.  Deeply  underlying  all  processes 
of  social  development  God  has  laid  the  universal 
equities.  These  rise  up  in  their  might  to  scan, 
measure,  and  requite  human  character  and  conduct. 
Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  life  is  under  high 
moral  view  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  The 
exalted  claims  of  morality  and  religion  are  not  to  be 
turned  aside  or  dismissed  at  our  pleasure.  If 
denied  a  hearing  they  will  come  to  court  again  and 
again  ;  they  will  lift  up  their  angel  faces  into  ours 
to  chide  us  for  our  neglect. 


Christ  and  Conduct  Reactions  177 

The  spirit  of  judgment  upon  evil  is  a  world  vital- 
ity. It  acts  and  interacts  on  the  complete  social 
activity  and  order  of  the  race.  It  is  the  true  vitality. 
Dismiss  judgment  against  wrong  doing  from  the 
forces  that  touch  the  life  of  the  race  and  we  should 
drift  to  anarchy,  wretchedness,  and  woe.  The  law 
of  retribution  has  never  been  outwitted.  Young 
men,  especially,  are  sometimes  tempted  to  believe 
they  are  smart  enough  to  do  it.  They  sometimes 
reckon  they  can  play  with  the  virtues  of  life  as  if 
they  were  matters  of  trifling  moment  and  concern. 
Let  the  young  man  note  that  for  the  burial  of  wrong 
doing  and  its  inevitable  chastisements  and  judg- 
ments, no  sea  of  oblivion  hath  ever  been  found.  If 
such  a  sea  existed  it  would  be  a  favored  resort  with 
some  men,  but  search  through  the  whole  universe 
of  God  and  it  cannot  be  located.  He  that  doeth 
evil  shall  confront  the  damnation  of  his  deadly 
doing. 

Life  is  not  a  game  of  chance.  Woe  betide  the 
man  who  reaches  so  rash  and  unfounded  a  conclu- 
sion. Over  all  stands  the  incorruptible  judge. 
There  are  judges  presiding  in  human  courts 
who  can  be  influenced  from  justice  by  money  or 
other  consideration,  but  there  is  a  court  set  in  the 
midst  of  the  universe  that  is  absolutely  impartial 
and  unpurchasable.  "Though  hand  join  in  hand 
the  wicked  shall  not  be  unpunished." 

Our  Lord  makes  it  plain  that  the  conduct  re- 
actions destroy  the  wicked  man  while  he  is  yet 
alive.  It  is  a  sad  and  unnecessary  destruction.  It 
is   a    destruction   against   which    Christ   ofifers    the 


178  The  Social  Messae:e  of  Our  Lord 


fc.' 


protest  of  his  sacrifice  on  the  cross  and  the  universal 
profifer  of  his   mighty  grace  for  the   recreation  of 
man's   spiritual  nature.      This  law  of   conduct   re- 
actions dissolves  fortunes,  so  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
common  observation  among  students  of  sociology 
and  morals  that  a  fortune  accumulated  by  wicked- 
ness passes  from  family  control  before  the  natural 
life  of  the  second  generation  has  ended.      This  law 
rots  down   families,  so  that  the  roster,   instead  of 
bearing   names   that   are   honored   and   famous   for 
integrity,  comes  to  bear  the  names  of  those  who  are 
notorious  for  evil.      The  wrong  of  every  sort  scars 
the  doer  first  of  all.     Every  small,  mean  trick  lowers 
the  moral  status  and  vitality.     Stealing  a  ride  w^here 
pay  is  honestly  due,  or  robbing  a  bank  or  a  house- 
,  hold,  the  principle  is  the  same.     Evil  doing  is,  after 
all,  a  matter  of  direction.      Man's  moral  nature  is 
delicate  and   sensitive.      We  talk   about   machines 
for  recording  earthquakes  at  remote  distances,  and 
a  sensitive  mechanism  it  must  be.    "  We  talk  about 
camera  films  and  plates,  which,  even  with  instan- 
taneous exposure,   record  the  image  of  the  object 
presented    with    unfailing    accuracy.       But    more 
delicate  and  sensitive  than  any  mechanism  of  man's 
invention  is  the  moral  nature  over  which  flows  the 
actions  of  one's  earthly  life.      The  small  infraction 
has    unmistakable    relation    to   the    permanent    de- 
formity.       The     permanent     deformity     has     been 
designated  as  hell. 

Wrong  blights  the  doer  and  his  descendants. 
This  is  true  even  though  for  the  time  being  there 
may  be  the  flush  and  fever  of  prosperity.      Some 


Christ  and  Conduct  Reactions  179 

poisons  temporarily  stimulate.  The  law  of  con- 
duct reaction  may  be  retarded,  but  cannot  be 
abrogated.  Redeeming  qualities  are  an  elYort  at 
equilibrium  ;  like  one  at  walking  a  rope,  the  man 
is  out  of  balance ;  the  rush  of  the  occasional  impulse 
for  ofood  into  one  side  or  the  other  of  his  life  is  the 
effort  of  redemptive  influences,  and  comes  because 
there  is  a  divine  purpose  that  the  man  shall  be 
restored  to  balance  and  safety.  Redeeming  quali- 
ties without  essential  and  regenerative  righteous- 
ness can  do  no  more  than  postpone  the  day  of 
penalty.  God  insists  on  the  absolute  recreation  of 
the  character  into  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ,  man's 
elder  brother  and  Divine  Savior.  This  and  only 
this  can  save  life  from  evil  conduct  and  the  deadly 
reaction  of  such  conduct. 

There  are  reasons  why  we  need  a  revival  of  atten- 
tion to  conduct  reaction.  In  the  business  world 
there  is  much  inclination  to  act  on  the  maxim,  "Get 
as  much  as  possible  for  as  little  as  possible,"  for 
that  is  business.  Such  a  principle  in  business  will 
decay  and  disintegrate  any  family  within  two 
generations.  Many  maxims  of  the  modern  business 
world  are  absolutely  rotten  and  pernicious.  Some 
of  our  business  methods  are  heathenish,  cruel,  and 
devilish.  Unjust  dealing,  extortion,  oppression, 
bribing  of  legislatures  and  city  officials,  the  mon- 
eyed control  of  courts,  the  defeat  of  justice,  these 
are  all  plague  spots  in  our  civilization,  and  we  need 
the  very  vitalities  of  the  divine  kingdom  to  eradi- 
cate them.  Inevitably,  men  guilty  of  all  these,  or 
any  of  these,  must,  of  necessity,  sneer  at  the  moral 


180  The  Social  Message  of  Our  Lord 

issue  in  politics  or  business.  This  is  to  be  expected. 
The  blight  of  death  is  on  every  temporary  or  appar- 
ent success  of  immoral  power,  cunning,  trickery, 
fraud,  or  technicality.  The  tendency  of  the  courts 
in  the  recent  past  to  decide  cases  in  favor  of  crimin- 
als because  of  some  technicality  as  againt  the  whole 
trend  of  the  law,  and  the  honorable  and  dignified 
demand  of  the  higher  law  of  rig'hteousness,  is  to  be 
condemned  in  the  most  scathing  terms.  Subserv- 
iency to  technicality  in  law  will  make  any  man 
diminutive,  for  he  stultifies  himself  by  such  an 
abuse  of  the  high  and  holy  functions  of  his  judge- 
ship. It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that 
some  railway  officials  have  been  known  to  rob  their 
own  corporations  by  favoring  freight  and  express 
companies  in  w^hich  they,  themselves,  had  large 
interest.  It  is  also  stated,  on  good  authority,  that 
some  railroad  officials  have  combined  to  boom  or 
depress  stocks  and  thereby  rob  the  public  and  their 
own  stockholders.  Such  men  need  to  be  reminded 
of  the  inevitable  result  of  their  deadly  doing.  In 
church  and  State,  in  private  or  official  life,  in  the 
corporation  and  with  the  individual,  let  it  be  ac- 
cepted as  a  doctrine  most  sweet,  wholesome,  and 
helpful,  that  honesty,  justice,  consideration  for  the 
rights  of  others  are  the  principles  that  are  to  govern 
in  our  favored  civilization. 

The  first  effect  of  unscrupulous  commercial  and 
corporation  conduct  may  be  a  fever  period  of  false 
prosperity.  All  too  soon  the  reaction  sets  in  and 
the  glory  of  character  has  perished.  The  peace  and 
integrity  of  life   have  been   violated.      The   whole 


Christ  and  Conduct  Reactions  181 

tendency  of  an  unscrupulous  devotion  to  money 
getting  is  to  the  brute  level.  The  financial  glutton 
becomes  coarse,  hard,  a  veritable  degenerate. 

This  tendency  to  wicked  conduct  in  money  get- 
ting has  instituted  the  custom  of  monopoly  in  the 
local  public  utilities.  What  could  be  more  repre- 
hensible and  worthy  of  scathing  denunciation?  Let 
the  local  public  utilities  be  owned  by  the  people. 
By  so  much  we  shall  remove  some  of  our  brother 
nien  from  temptations  which  they  do  not  have  the 
hardihood  to  resist.  In  creating  corporations  and 
granting  franchises  the  people  have  often  made  a 
few  financial  gluttons. 

Then  there  has  come  the  watered  stock,  the  poor 
service,  irritated  public  and  blasted  life.  Great 
fortunes  may,  indeed,  be  obtained  in  a  short  time, 
but  consider  the  scandal,  corruption,  dissipation,  and 
death.  In  all  this  mad  struggle  for  wealth  we  have 
great  ability,  vigorous  character,  high  ideals,  noble 
traits  and  aspirations,  all  sacrificed  and  brought  to 
ruin  and  degradation.  Who  can  estimate,  as  our 
Lord  did  estimate,  the  deadly  peril  of  the  irreligious 
life?  There  are  a  thousand  w^arnings  at  every  turn 
of  life's  road  against  irreligion.  Happy  the  man  who 
frankly,  candidly,  and  early  in  his  career  faces  the 
claims  of  Christ  and  the  conduct  that  he  prescribes 
for  all  human  activity.  Inscribe  in  letters  of  light 
across  the  gateway  of  every  opening  day  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  universal  vision  of  mankind  the  sig- 
nificant words,  ''He  that  doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth 
forever." 


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